WoodTrust Financial Corp Increases Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Key Points

• WoodTrust Financial Corp significantly increased its stake in Associated Banc-Corp by 1,015.9%, now holding approximately 0.12% of the company's shares valued at $4.75 million.
• Some analysts have raised their price targets for Associated Banc, with Wells Fargo boosting it from $28.00 to $30.00, indicating positive growth expectations for the bank.
• Associated Banc recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share, representing a 3.5% yield, although its dividend payout ratio stands at a high 119.48%.

WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 1,015.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,761 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 177,308 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp owned about 0.12% of Associated Banc worth $4,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,907 shares of the bank's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Associated Banc by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,688 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Associated Banc by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Associated Banc by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Associated Banc by 111,480.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,579 shares of the bank's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,574 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.78.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE ASB opened at $26.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $18.32 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50 day moving average is $25.72 and its 200 day moving average is $24.05.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Associated Banc's payout ratio is 119.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick Edward Ahern sold 3,342 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $87,560.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,472 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,566.40. This trade represents a 7.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $354,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 111,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,850.72. The trade was a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,342 shares of company stock worth $494,360 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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