Johnson Financial Group Inc. Buys 9,850 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 6,566.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,000 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,850 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 81,544 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,744,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 40,608 shares of the bank’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $36,722,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 183.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,860 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $499,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ASB opened at $21.24 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.61. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $14.56 and a 12-month high of $22.77.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.00 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,449.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $105,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,648.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total value of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,449.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,529 shares of company stock valued at $564,115. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.