Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 11,170 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Associated Banc by 11.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at $6,082,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,282,000 after acquiring an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth $3,245,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.11.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $22.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $19.76 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.02 and its 200-day moving average is $23.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Equities analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 116.46%.

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.