Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $745,000 Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,971 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 73,821 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the first quarter valued at $311,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Associated Banc by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 30,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,117 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Associated Banc by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,146 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,892 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 1st quarter valued at about $744,000. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up from $29.00) on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.40.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $26.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.48. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.81. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year high of $27.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.07. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 7.23%.The firm had revenue of $390.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 102.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.41, for a total value of $56,385.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 109,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,927.22. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick Edward Ahern sold 30,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.70, for a total transaction of $783,567.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,055 shares in the company, valued at $618,213.50. This represents a 55.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 35,951 shares of company stock valued at $925,756 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

About Associated Banc

Associated Banc-Corp, through its primary subsidiary Associated Bank, N.A., is a regional financial services company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The bank operates more than 200 branches across the Midwest, offering community-focused banking solutions for individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Its emphasis on personalized service and regional decision-making supports long-standing customer relationships.

On the consumer side, Associated Bank provides checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto financing and credit card products.