Hancock Whitney Corp Purchases 9,687 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 59,769 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,687 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Associated Banc by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $334,522,000 after purchasing an additional 184,813 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $231,776,000 after buying an additional 229,552 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 43.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,133,000 after buying an additional 1,224,216 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,254,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,223,000 after acquiring an additional 40,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,652,000 after acquiring an additional 728,555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,449.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,922 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,449.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Gregory Schmidt 23,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB traded down $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 490,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,357,889. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $15.16 and a 12 month high of $24.21. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.33 and a 200-day moving average of $21.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Associated Banc had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The company had revenue of $321.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ASB. Baird R W downgraded Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.67.

Associated Banc 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.