John A. Utz Sells 19,044 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Stock

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,934.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB stock opened at $23.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.93. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $16.19 and a fifty-two week high of $24.31.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.33%.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASB. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 285.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Associated Banc in the 1st quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Associated Banc during the 2nd quarter worth $93,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASB has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Baird R W downgraded Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.89.

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.