Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 183.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,990 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 17,462 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Associated Banc were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASB. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 80,294 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,882 shares of the bank's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the bank's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock traded up $0.78 on Friday, reaching $23.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,687,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,779. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.88. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $18.32 and a 52-week high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.98%.

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.