Interval Partners LP Buys 131,099 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Interval Partners LP grew its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 639,953 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,099 shares during the quarter. Interval Partners LP owned 0.42% of Associated Banc worth $15,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASB. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $37,662,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,068 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Associated Banc by 263.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,597,950 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,576 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE ASB opened at $23.20 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.89. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $348.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $347.86 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Associated Banc’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 106.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ASB shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Associated Banc 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.