Insider Buying: Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) CEO Purchases $300,157.50 in Stock

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) CEO Andrew J. Harmening bought 12,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $300,157.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,423,004.25. The trade was a 4.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:ASB opened at $24.47 on Thursday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.92.

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

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,798,000 after buying an additional 1,444,068 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,026,000 after buying an additional 265,378 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 3.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,120 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,295,000 after acquiring an additional 72,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,182,882 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,171,000 after acquiring an additional 362,267 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ASB shares. Truist Financial started coverage on Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

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.