Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Buys 4,274 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,593 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,274 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $465,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.8% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total value of $45,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,269,730.86. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,481,496 over the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $27.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.17. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc-Corp has a one year low of $17.30 and a one year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.89.

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.