Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 732 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,600 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 732 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 285.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the second quarter worth $38,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the second quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the second quarter worth about $140,000. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ASB. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated Banc news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total transaction of $45,560.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,637 shares in the company, valued at $2,269,730.86. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,641 shares of company stock worth $1,481,496. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB opened at $27.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.17. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $17.30 and a 1 year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

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.