United Services Automobile Association Acquires Shares of 10,388 Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,388 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Associated Banc by 221.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,511,000 after purchasing an additional 112,323 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 16.7% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 24,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 3,542 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 117.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 23,076 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,137,125 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,034,000 after acquiring an additional 17,425 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Associated Banc by 6.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 296,155 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,379,000 after acquiring an additional 17,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Up 3.1 %

ASB stock opened at $23.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $19.76 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Equities analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.11.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In related news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the 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. The trade was a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.