Pinebridge Investments L.P. Buys 29,040 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,071 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 29,040 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. owned 0.06% of Associated Banc worth $2,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter worth about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank's stock worth $431,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,068 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at $353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 315.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,907,000 after buying an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Associated Banc by 11,595.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 76,370 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 75,717 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ASB. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.00.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 671,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,267. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $18.32 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $21.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.87.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.86 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.98%.

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.