Trexquant Investment LP Sells 67,333 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 190,936 shares of the bank's stock after selling 67,333 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.13% of Associated Banc worth $4,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank's stock worth $431,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,144,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Associated Banc by 11,595.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 76,370 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 75,717 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $177,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

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

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ASB shares. 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 research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB traded down $1.59 on Thursday, hitting $19.02. 377,287 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,604,672. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $23.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.93. Associated Banc-Corp has a one year low of $18.32 and a one year high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc's payout ratio is presently 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.