Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Associated Banc-Corp by 3.8%, selling 11,110 shares and now owning 278,684 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million.
• The average target price for Associated Banc-Corp is $27.78, with a mix of ratings including one sell, seven holds, and two buys from analysts.
• Associated Banc-Corp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.7%, set to be paid on September 15th.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,684 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,110 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.17% of Associated Banc worth $6,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Associated Banc by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 115,710 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,765,000 after buying an additional 20,805 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 714,585 shares of the bank's stock worth $17,079,000 after purchasing an additional 97,524 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,525,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 459,420 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,981,000 after purchasing an additional 87,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,882 shares of the bank's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Associated Banc Trading Up 5.1%

NYSE ASB traded up $1.2840 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.4940. 1,544,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,430,906. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $24.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $366.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.78.

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.