Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Stock Price

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Barclays from $28.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 33.48% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ASB. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James decreased 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 note on Monday, March 10th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.78.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

ASB stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,082,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,476,207. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc has a twelve month low of $18.33 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.02.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Associated Banc news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASB. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 154.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,073 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 221.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 385.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 49.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

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.