Associated Banc-Corp $ASB Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Associated Banc-Corp by 200.3%, now holding approximately 1.93 million shares valued at $42.85 million as of its latest filing.
• The bank recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.65, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.62, supported by a revenue of $366.98 million for the quarter.
• Associated Banc-Corp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%, with a payout ratio of 119.48%.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 200.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,930,329 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 1,287,458 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.16% of Associated Banc worth $42,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 385.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,612 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Associated Banc by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,907 shares of the bank's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,688 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 38.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Associated Banc by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.5%

ASB traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.28. 1,592,683 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,181,491. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.67. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business had revenue of $366.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 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 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick Edward Ahern sold 3,342 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $87,560.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,472 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,566.40. This trade represents a 7.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Matthew R. Braeger sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $52,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 13,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,533.64. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,342 shares of company stock valued at $494,360. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ASB shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.78.

Associated Banc Company 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.