M&G Plc Has $8.65 Million Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

M&G Plc increased its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 411,761 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,542 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $334,522,000 after buying an additional 184,813 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Associated Banc by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $231,776,000 after buying an additional 229,552 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,133,000 after buying an additional 1,224,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Associated Banc by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,254,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,223,000 after purchasing an additional 40,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Associated Banc by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,652,000 after purchasing an additional 728,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ASB. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Baird R W downgraded Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In related news, EVP Randall J. Erickson sold 23,774 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $546,564.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,958,353.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $20.60 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.26 and its 200 day moving average is $21.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $15.16 and a 52-week high of $24.21.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $321.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

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.