Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $794,000 in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 33,211 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after buying an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after purchasing an additional 305,133 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth $6,082,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,877 shares during the period. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth $3,245,000. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Associated Banc stock opened at $22.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.95. 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-Corp has a 12 month low of $19.76 and a 12 month high of $28.18.

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

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.11.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In related news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This represents 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 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.