Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires 10,583 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,217 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 10,583 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASB. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Associated Banc stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $24.24. 959,234 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,513,753. 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-Corp has a twelve month low of $19.76 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.94.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS 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 expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is presently 116.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

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.