Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 36,376 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 85.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,073 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 36,376 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of Associated Banc worth $1,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Associated Banc by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 80,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,165 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 16,182 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,678,897.35. The trade was a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $22.79 on Friday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $19.76 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.96.

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

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 116.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ASB. Barclays raised 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.11.

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.