Bank of America Corp DE Sells 82,568 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 841,398 shares of the bank's stock after selling 82,568 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.56% of Associated Banc worth $20,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ASB. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Associated Banc by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 75,393 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 13,680 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc lifted its position in Associated Banc by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 869,591 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,783,000 after acquiring an additional 86,000 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 47,607 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,560,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,182,882 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,171,000 after buying an additional 362,267 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Andrew J. Harmening purchased 12,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $300,157.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 319,269 shares in the company, valued at $7,423,004.25. This represents a 4.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $23.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,123,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,542,478. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. 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 of $21.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. 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.