Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 21,725 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 80.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,199 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,725 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,068 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,441 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,026,000 after buying an additional 265,378 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Associated Banc by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,248,435 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,738,000 after buying an additional 111,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,761,584 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,102,000 after buying an additional 31,956 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,897.35. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASB opened at $20.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $18.32 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ASB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.67.

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.