Walleye Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 52,043 Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 52,043 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,244,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ASB. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $232,000. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,882 shares of the bank's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 459,420 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,981,000 after purchasing an additional 87,972 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 49,145 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,509 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Associated Banc by 221.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,499 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock traded up $0.69 on Friday, hitting $22.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 930,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,494. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $18.32 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company 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 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ASB shares. Raymond James reduced 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 note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.11.

Associated Banc 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.