Zacks Research Forecasts Lower Earnings for Associated Banc

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Associated Banc in a report released on Wednesday, December 4th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $0.51 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.53. The consensus estimate for Associated Banc’s current full-year earnings is $2.13 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Associated Banc’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.59 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.58 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.61 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.35 EPS.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ASB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted 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 note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ASB stock opened at $25.84 on Monday. Associated Banc has a 12-month low of $19.21 and a 12-month high of $28.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 76.67%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,641 shares of company stock worth $1,435,936 over the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Associated Banc by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Associated Banc by 1.4% in the 2nd 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 period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Associated Banc by 2.4% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Associated Banc by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.