Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) PT Raised to $22.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the bank's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ASB. Barclays assumed coverage on Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $22.63.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.58. 1,542,837 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,464,351. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $20.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.48. Associated Banc has a one year low of $14.47 and a one year high of $22.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 8.12%. The business had revenue of $322.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.89 million. Research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $52,785.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,225.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $52,785.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,225.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $297,012.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,880 shares in the company, valued at $1,905,456. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,710 shares of company stock worth $454,897 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,722,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 13.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,356,990 shares of the bank's stock valued at $151,864,000 after buying an additional 1,118,108 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,652,000 after buying an additional 728,555 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 325.5% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 905,941 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,703,000 after buying an additional 693,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 92.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,433,301 shares of the bank's stock valued at $24,524,000 after buying an additional 687,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% 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.