Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 98,368 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,549 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $2,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth $37,662,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Associated Banc by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,088,796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,022,000 after buying an additional 467,183 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,907,000 after buying an additional 410,118 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASB. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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 one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock opened at $22.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.05. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $19.76 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued 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 return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.46%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.