Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $3.70 Million Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 155,000 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $3,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Associated Banc by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASB. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

Associated Banc Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $25.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $19.40 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 3.65%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Associated Banc news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. The trade was a 15.97 % 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 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.