NFJ Investment Group LLC Acquires New Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 150,657 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $3,245,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned 0.10% of Associated Banc at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ASB. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the second quarter worth $38,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the second quarter valued at about $93,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the second quarter valued at about $140,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 30.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,084 shares of the bank's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ASB shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.78.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.01. The company had a trading volume of 939,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,551. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.63 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $336.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Associated Banc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.67%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,108,254.72. This trade represents a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,641 shares of company stock worth $1,435,936 in the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Associated Banc Profile

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit.