Associated Banc's (ASB) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $28.00 price objective on the bank's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ASB. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.11.

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Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $22.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 392,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,468,249. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.98. Associated Banc has a 12 month low of $19.76 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 221.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,511,000 after buying an additional 112,323 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 16.7% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 24,795 shares of the bank's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Associated Banc by 117.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 23,076 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,137,125 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,034,000 after purchasing an additional 17,425 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 296,155 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,379,000 after buying an additional 17,699 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.