Peregrine Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 192,350 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $4,974,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,538,157 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $477,543,000 after purchasing an additional 545,185 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,711,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $224,404,000 after buying an additional 147,372 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,663,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $94,363,000 after buying an additional 38,900 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,867,172 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,858,000 after buying an additional 963,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Associated Banc by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,841,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $73,208,000 after buying an additional 790,793 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Stephens upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.82, for a total value of $144,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,405,255.92. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total value of $112,720.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 67,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,899,895.60. This represents a 5.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,299 shares of company stock valued at $801,760. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $31.16 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.30. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $23.63 and a 1-year high of $31.36.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Associated Banc had a net margin of 19.88% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $387.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $384.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Associated Banc Company Profile

Associated Banc-Corp, through its primary subsidiary Associated Bank, N.A., is a regional financial services company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The bank operates more than 200 branches across the Midwest, offering community-focused banking solutions for individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Its emphasis on personalized service and regional decision-making supports long-standing customer relationships.

On the consumer side, Associated Bank provides checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto financing and credit card products.