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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Associated Banc’s revenue 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, reaching $21.57. 2,239,466 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,442,059. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.16.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $297,012.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,905,456. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $297,012.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,905,456. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $52,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,225.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,710 shares of company stock valued at $454,897. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Raymond James increased their target price on Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.13.

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.