Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $26.31 and last traded at $26.26, with a volume of 207039 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.89.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.72.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 73.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total value of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,108,254.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,254.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total value of $45,560.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,269,730.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,105 shares of company stock valued at $671,324. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 43.3% during 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 period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,807 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the first quarter worth $8,057,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 12.0% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,149,355 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 123,271 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 221.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,511,000 after purchasing an additional 112,323 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

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.