BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $2.08 Million Stock Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 114.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 96,752 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,672 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Associated Banc were worth $2,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Associated Banc by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $140,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Associated Banc by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,084 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.2 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $26.01 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.43. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $18.96 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 54,114 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,254.72. This trade represents a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,435,936. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.89.

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.