Harbour Investments Inc. Has $1.04 Million Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,504 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,830 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Associated Banc by 315.6% during 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. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Associated Banc during the third quarter worth $6,082,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Associated Banc by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Associated Banc during the third quarter worth $3,245,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE ASB opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.97. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $19.76 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share 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%. On average, research 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. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.11.

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.