Leeward Investments LLC MA Sells 19,948 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Leeward Investments LLC MA trimmed its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 2.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 724,583 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 19,948 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $18,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,538,157 shares of the bank’s stock worth $477,543,000 after buying an additional 545,185 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Associated Banc by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,711,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $224,404,000 after acquiring an additional 147,372 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Associated Banc by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,663,163 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $94,363,000 after acquiring an additional 38,900 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,867,172 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,858,000 after acquiring an additional 963,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,841,931 shares of the bank’s stock worth $73,208,000 after acquiring an additional 790,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Matthew R. Braeger sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.17, for a total transaction of $140,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $331,758.09. This represents a 29.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.82, for a total transaction of $144,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,405,255.92. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 28,299 shares of company stock worth $801,760 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Associated Banc from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.30.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock opened at $29.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $23.63 and a fifty-two week high of $29.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.12.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. Associated Banc had a net margin of 19.88% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $387.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $384.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Associated Banc Company Profile

Associated Banc-Corp, through its primary subsidiary Associated Bank, N.A., is a regional financial services company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The bank operates more than 200 branches across the Midwest, offering community-focused banking solutions for individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Its emphasis on personalized service and regional decision-making supports long-standing customer relationships.

On the consumer side, Associated Bank provides checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto financing and credit card products.