Point72 Asset Management L.P. Boosts Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 83.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 852,400 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 386,904 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $20,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Associated Banc by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,798,000 after buying an additional 1,444,068 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,638,000 after buying an additional 1,272,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,026,000 after buying an additional 265,378 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Associated Banc by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,248,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,738,000 after buying an additional 111,310 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Associated Banc by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,182,882 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,171,000 after buying an additional 362,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Associated Banc news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew J. Harmening acquired 12,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,423,004.25. This trade represents a 4.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $24.27 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.93. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $18.32 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASB. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.