Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,444,068 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.94% of Associated Banc worth $431,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ASB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after acquiring an additional 410,118 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,886,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the third quarter worth approximately $3,245,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Associated Banc by 51.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 371,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,002,000 after buying an additional 125,899 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.5 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $22.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $19.76 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 116.46%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASB. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

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.