Corebridge Financial Inc. Increases Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Corebridge Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 261,345 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 6,775 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $6,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 80,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Associated Banc by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,165 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 16,182 shares of the bank’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Down 1.5 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $22.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.01. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $19.76 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. 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 quarterly 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, research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Associated Banc news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

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.