WoodTrust Financial Corp Sells 1,654 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

WoodTrust Financial Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,112 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASB. M&G PLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 2.9% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 423,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,326,000 after purchasing an additional 12,142 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,220 shares of the bank’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Associated Banc by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 134.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 129,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,799,000 after acquiring an additional 74,574 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.89.

Associated Banc Trading Up 17.3 %

NYSE ASB opened at $28.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.91. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $16.59 and a twelve month high of $28.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.15 and its 200 day moving average is $21.69.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. The company had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 76.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at $2,423,934.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total transaction of $45,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares in the company, valued at $2,269,730.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,105 shares of company stock valued at $671,324. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.