Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target Raised to $24.00 at Barclays

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $22.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

ASB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Associated Banc has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $23.13.

Associated Banc Price Performance

NYSE ASB opened at $21.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. Associated Banc has a 52 week low of $14.47 and a 52 week 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.75.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.00 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Associated Banc by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $334,522,000 after acquiring an additional 184,813 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,776,000 after purchasing an additional 229,552 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,826,597 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,461,000 after purchasing an additional 490,321 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 0.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,744,918 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,966,000 after purchasing an additional 21,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,254,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,223,000 after purchasing an additional 40,111 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.