Zimmer Partners LP Takes $598,000 Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 25,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Associated Banc by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 116,712 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,700 shares during the last quarter. Seven Grand Managers LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth about $3,585,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Associated Banc by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 852,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,372,000 after buying an additional 386,904 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at about $509,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at about $238,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening purchased 12,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $300,157.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 319,269 shares in the company, valued at $7,423,004.25. This represents a 4.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ASB opened at $23.96 on Wednesday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 106.98%.

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.