Short Interest in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Drops By 6.2%

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,810,000 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the March 15th total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $297,012.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,905,456. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $297,012.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,905,456. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $52,785.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,225.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,710 shares of company stock valued at $454,897 over the last three months. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 470.2% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,169 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,938 shares of the bank’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $334,522,000 after purchasing an additional 184,813 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 163,215 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,492,000 after purchasing an additional 5,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

ASB stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,208,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,441,316. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.57. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.00.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $322.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.89 million. Analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.88%.

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.