Associated Banc-Corp $ASB Shares Bought by Rhino Investment Partners Inc

Key Points

• Rhino Investment Partners Inc increased its stake in Associated Banc-Corp by 17.9% in Q1, owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $23 million, making it the 5th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Equities research analysts upgraded Associated Banc's price targets, with Wells Fargo raising its objective to $30.00, while the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $27.78.
• The bank recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, equating to a 3.6% yield, although its dividend payout ratio is over 119%.

Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,024,820 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 155,229 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc comprises about 5.7% of Rhino Investment Partners Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Rhino Investment Partners Inc owned about 0.62% of Associated Banc worth $23,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 154.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,073 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 385.5% during 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 during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 11.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Associated Banc Price Performance

NYSE ASB traded up $0.44 on Tuesday, reaching $26.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 186,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,521,842. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $18.32 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's 50 day moving average is $24.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.49.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The company had revenue of $366.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is presently 119.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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