John A. Utz Sells 2,500 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Stock

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total value of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,449.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB opened at $22.40 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.12. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $14.47 and a 12-month high of $22.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 6.86%. The firm had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Associated Banc’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 329,172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,080,000 after purchasing an additional 27,115 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Associated Banc by 71.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 73,961 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 30,732 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 1st quarter valued at about $74,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 1st quarter valued at about $523,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.13.

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.