Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,371 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 13,780 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Associated Banc worth $2,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,662,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $431,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank's stock valued at $354,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 263.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,597,950 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,576 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.3%

ASB opened at $24.49 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Associated Banc-Corp has a one year low of $18.32 and a one year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.47% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $348.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens lowered their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening bought 12,910 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $300,157.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 319,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,423,004.25. The trade was a 4.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

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.

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