Insider Selling: Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) EVP Sells 13,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Executive Vice President John Utz of Associated Banc-Corp sold 13,000 shares at an average price of $27.24, reducing his ownership by 10.46% to 111,228 shares.
• The bank reported an EPS of $0.65 for its last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.62, and achieved a revenue of $366.98 million.
• Associated Banc declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%, but has a high dividend payout ratio of 119.48%.

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) EVP John A. Utz sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.24, for a total transaction of $354,120.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 111,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,850.72. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ASB traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.61. 1,564,943 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,082,874. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.84. The business's fifty day moving average is $25.49 and its 200 day moving average is $23.60. 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-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $18.32 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP boosted its position in Associated Banc by 154.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,073 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 2,033.9% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,195 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 345.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 385.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,612 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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 raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.