Virtu Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 11,170 Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,170 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 11,595.3% in the 4th 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 315.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,907,000 after buying an additional 410,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,248,435 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,738,000 after acquiring an additional 111,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.11.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.62. 1,103,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,463,846. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $19.76 and a 12-month high of $28.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.05.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. On average, analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.