Bailard Inc. Purchases 864 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Bailard Inc. lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,464 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,082,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Associated Banc by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,245,000. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $23.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.66 and its 200 day moving average is $23.98. Associated Banc-Corp has a one year low of $19.76 and a one year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Associated Banc Company Profile

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.