Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Posts Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52, Briefing.com reports. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company had revenue of $321.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.69 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $23.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Associated Banc has a 1 year low of $15.16 and a 1 year high of $24.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.11.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ASB. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.