Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 34.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,423 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,053 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.06% of Associated Banc worth $2,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,662,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,638,000 after buying an additional 1,272,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 263.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,597,950 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,191,000 after buying an additional 1,158,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ASB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening purchased 12,910 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $300,157.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 319,269 shares in the company, valued at $7,423,004.25. The trade was a 4.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASB opened at $23.74 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.59. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $18.32 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.86 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.98%.

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.