Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Shares Bought by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,882 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 459,420 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,981,000 after purchasing an additional 87,972 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 49,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,509 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 221.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,499 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at $6,525,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 714,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,079,000 after buying an additional 97,524 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % 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 Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $23.25 on Friday. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $18.32 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.87.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.86 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.98%.

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.