Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $24.31 and last traded at $24.04, with a volume of 197268 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.89.

Associated Banc Trading Up 2.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.52.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 7.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Associated Banc news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the 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 directly owns 54,114 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,254.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total value of $165,089.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,114 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,254.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total value of $45,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,269,730.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Associated Banc by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,133,000 after buying an additional 1,224,216 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,807 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,149,355 shares of the bank's stock valued at $24,309,000 after acquiring an additional 123,271 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 442,947 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 95,928 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 411,761 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,647,000 after acquiring an additional 45,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Associated Banc Company 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.

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