Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.23 Per Share

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the bank on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Associated Banc has increased its dividend by an average of 5.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Associated Banc has a dividend payout ratio of 38.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Associated Banc to earn $2.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.9%.

Associated Banc Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $24.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.93. Associated Banc has a twelve month low of $15.94 and a twelve month high of $24.31.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The business 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 8.14% and a net margin of 7.93%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total transaction of $45,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,269,730.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,108,254.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total value of $45,560.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,269,730.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Baird R W cut Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.89.

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.