Commerce Bank Grows Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,795 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,542 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 4.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Associated Banc by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Associated Banc by 1.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Associated Banc by 2.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 1.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,481,496 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $27.03 on Wednesday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $17.30 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.51 and its 200 day moving average is $22.17. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.89.

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.