Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes $541,000 Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 23,998 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,662,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank's stock worth $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank's stock worth $354,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,441 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 263.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,597,950 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,576 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $25.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,013,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,342. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.42. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $18.32 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.80.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The firm had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ASB. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reduced 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 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening acquired 12,910 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $300,157.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 319,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,423,004.25. The trade was a 4.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

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.