Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Raised to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $26.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their previous target price of $27.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.67.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $19.21 on Wednesday. Associated Banc has a 52-week low of $18.32 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.87 and its 200 day moving average is $23.90. 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 market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Research analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.46%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 37.4% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,971 shares of the bank’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 5,438 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $291,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

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.