Associated Banc-Corp $ASB Shares Bought by Hancock Whitney Corp

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp significantly increased its stake in Associated Banc-Corp, acquiring an additional 216,706 shares, bringing its total to 274,707 shares valued at approximately $6.19 million.
• Associated Banc-Corp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, reflecting a 3.5% dividend yield, with the ex-dividend date set for September 2nd.
• Recent analyst ratings for Associated Banc have led to adjusted price targets, with Barclays and Robert W. Baird both increasing their targets to $30 and $28 respectively, while overall ratings remain at "Hold."

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 373.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,707 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 216,706 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp owned about 0.17% of Associated Banc worth $6,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth about $37,662,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 200.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,930,329 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,853,000 after buying an additional 1,287,458 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the first quarter worth about $23,510,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 83.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,308,946 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,491,000 after buying an additional 594,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 129.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 990,500 shares of the bank's stock worth $23,673,000 after buying an additional 558,721 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ASB shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.24, for a total transaction of $354,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 111,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,029,850.72. This trade represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.4%

ASB stock traded down $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $26.16. 583,702 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,515,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $18.32 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The business's fifty day moving average is $25.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.48%.

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.