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

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $322.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Associated Banc Stock Up 0.9 %

ASB traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.57. 2,239,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,442,059. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.16. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.75.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $105,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,053,648.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $297,012.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,905,456. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,648.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,710 shares of company stock worth $454,897 in the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASB. Raymond James increased their price target on Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.