Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The company had revenue of $322.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Associated Banc’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Associated Banc stock opened at $21.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.75. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.16.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $297,012.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,905,456. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $52,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,225.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $297,012.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,905,456. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,710 shares of company stock valued at $454,897 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ASB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.13.

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.