Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The business had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Associated Banc Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,239,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,168,001. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.75. Associated Banc has a twelve month low of $14.47 and a twelve month high of $22.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $52,785.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,225.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $52,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,225.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 owns 50,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,648.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,710 shares of company stock worth $454,897. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.13.

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.