Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 21,725 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 80.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,199 shares of the bank's stock after selling 21,725 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Associated Banc were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,907,000 after buying an additional 410,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Associated Banc by 11,595.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 76,370 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 75,717 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. The trade was 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.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASB opened at $20.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc's payout ratio is 116.46%.

About Associated Banc

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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