Barclays Lowers Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target to $22.00

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $24.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

ASB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Associated Banc has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.88.

Associated Banc Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ASB opened at $20.30 on Monday. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $15.16 and a fifty-two week high of $22.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.99.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.00 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,449.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total value of $106,553.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,591.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,449.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $334,522,000 after acquiring an additional 184,813 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,776,000 after acquiring an additional 229,552 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,254,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,223,000 after purchasing an additional 40,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,652,000 after purchasing an additional 728,555 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Company 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.