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Associated Banc-Corp
(NYSE:ASB)
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Rating:69Neutral
Price Target:
$33.00
▲(6.97% Upside)
Action:Downgraded
Date:09/14/26
The score is driven primarily by improving financial performance (earnings/margin recovery and strong cash generation), supported by an attractive valuation (low P/E and solid dividend yield) and a generally positive earnings-call outlook around growth and integration synergies. These positives are balanced by weaker near-term technical momentum and balance-sheet risk from rising leverage alongside some acquisition-related credit and cost headwinds.
Positive Factors
Organic commercial and deposit growth
Strong organic commercial lending and core deposit gains indicate that Associated is expanding customer relationships beyond acquisition-driven growth. This supports future net interest income, improves funding stability, and reinforces the bank’s competitive position in its regional markets over the coming quarters.
Negative Factors
Rising leverage
The recent increase in debt relative to equity reduces financial flexibility compared with the prior two years. Greater leverage can make the balance sheet more sensitive to credit losses, funding costs, and earnings volatility, potentially constraining capital allocation while the acquisition is being integrated.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Organic commercial and deposit growth
Strong organic commercial lending and core deposit gains indicate that Associated is expanding customer relationships beyond acquisition-driven growth. This supports future net interest income, improves funding stability, and reinforces the bank’s competitive position in its regional markets over the coming quarters.
Read all positive factors
Associated Banc-Corp (ASB) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$5.48B
Dividend Yield3.31%
Average Volume (3M)1.99M
Price to Earnings (P/E)10.0
Beta (1Y)1.13
Revenue Growth20.11%
EPS Growth273.05%
CountryUS
Employees4,129
SectorFinancial
Sector Strength70
IndustryBanks - Regional
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)2.90
Shares Outstanding188,849,660
10 Day Avg. Volume2,397,758
30 Day Avg. Volume1,987,342
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.03
Price to Book (P/B)0.85
Price to Sales (P/S)1.73
P/FCF Ratio7.34
Enterprise Value/Market Cap2.05
Enterprise Value/Revenue4.37
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit7.22
Enterprise Value/Ebitda15.34
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$34.00Price Target Upside10.21% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering7
EPS Forecast (FY)2.99
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.77B
Associated Banc-Corp Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products and services to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota. It offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and ...
How the Company Makes Money
Associated Banc-Corp primarily makes money through a combination of net interest income and noninterest income. Net interest income is generated by earning interest and fees on loans and other interest-earning assets (e.g., commercial loans, real ...
Associated Banc-Corp Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Jul 23, 2026
(Q2-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Oct 22, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call presented a largely positive operational and financial picture: strong organic commercial loan growth, margin expansion (NIM +14 bps to 3.17%), robust year-over-year core deposit gains (core customer deposits +6% YoY), successful initial integration of American National with purchase accounting completed and an improved cost-savings outlook (from 25% to ~30%), and stable credit metrics overall. Near-term challenges include higher-than-expected one-time merger costs and elevated noninterest expense growth, some AN-related charge-offs and increases in criticized/nonaccrual balances in dollar terms, fair value/mark impacts from rate shifts, and normal Q2 deposit seasonality that temporarily offsets total deposit growth when excluding AN balances. On balance, the positives (organic growth, margin improvement, integration progress and stable credit) outweigh the manageable near-term headwinds.Positive Updates
Organic C&I Loan Growth Target Achieved
Management hit its January target of 9%–10% organic C&I loan growth as of June 30, driven by over $600M of additions in Q2; organic C&I growth was $644M in Q2 and ~ $1.2B YTD (≈10% through June 30), meeting a four-year growth target within six months.
Negative Updates
Higher-than-Expected Merger and Operating Costs
Q2 noninterest expense rose to $272M (up $53M QoQ) following AN acquisition and included $24M of one-time acquisition costs. Management now expects noninterest expense to increase 20%–21% in 2026 (vs. ASB stand-alone 2025); nonrecurring merger expenses came in slightly above prior expectations.
Read all updates
Q2-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Organic C&I Loan Growth Target Achieved
Management hit its January target of 9%–10% organic C&I loan growth as of June 30, driven by over $600M of additions in Q2; organic C&I growth was $644M in Q2 and ~ $1.2B YTD (≈10% through June 30), meeting a four-year growth target within six months.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
The company reiterated a constructive 2026 outlook while updating transaction assumptions: it expects period‑end total loan growth of 18–20% and C&I loan growth of 20–22% (vs. ASB stand‑alone 2025), period‑end total deposit growth of 17–19% and period‑end core customer deposit growth of 19–21% (vs. stand‑alone 2025), net interest income growth of 19–21%, noninterest income growth of 8–10% and noninterest expense growth of 20–21%; management also confirmed an expected systems/branch conversion in October, buyback capacity, earn‑back of ~2.25 years, and increased expected cost saves to ~30% of American National’s expense base (from 25%). Key Q2 metrics anchoring the guidance included GAAP EPS $0.63 ($0.73 adj. for $24M one‑time acquisition costs), NII $370M and NIM 3.17% (up 14 bps), total loans up 15% QoQ after adding nearly $4B of American National balances (organic period‑end loan growth ex‑acquisition +3% or $940M; organic C&I +$644M Q2, +~$1.2B YTD), total deposits up 12% Q2 (organic core customer deposits +6% YoY or ~$1.7B), ACLL $494M (1.36% of loans, +2 bps), Q2 provision $19M and net charge‑offs $23M (including ~$7M from AN), CET1 10.47%, TCE 8.27%, tangible book $22.15, securities+cash 23.3% of assets (target 22–24%), purchased securities reinvested ~$1B at ~4.6% and portfolio protections including ~$2.45B fixed‑received swaps and a $4B fixed‑rate auto book (up100 → NII −1.9%, down100 → NII +1.2%).Associated Banc-Corp Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
74
Positive
Balance Sheet
63
Positive
Cash Flow
71
Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 2.57B | 2.46B | 2.10B | 2.02B | 1.42B | 1.12B |
| Gross Profit | 1.55B | 1.43B | 944.38M | 1.01B | 1.20B | 1.14B |
| EBITDA | 731.67M | 680.05M | 236.97M | 300.36M | 528.51M | 506.75M |
| Net Income | 505.06M | 474.78M | 123.14M | 182.96M | 366.12M | 350.99M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 51.81B | 45.20B | 43.02B | 41.02B | 39.41B | 35.10B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 6.91B | 5.97B | 5.57B | 4.52B | 3.34B | 5.36B |
| Total Debt | 5.70B | 4.17B | 3.16B | 2.81B | 5.17B | 2.22B |
| Total Liabilities | 46.17B | 40.23B | 38.42B | 36.84B | 35.39B | 31.08B |
| Stockholders Equity | 5.64B | 4.98B | 4.61B | 4.17B | 4.02B | 4.02B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 679.64M | 579.32M | 535.26M | 380.93M | 783.86M | 477.27M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 719.01M | 615.69M | 580.25M | 442.74M | 846.57M | 529.55M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -2.29B | -1.62B | -2.22B | -1.44B | -5.25B | -1.58B |
| Financing Cash Flow | 2.14B | 1.71B | 1.73B | 1.30B | 4.00B | 1.36B |
Associated Banc-Corp Technical Analysis
Neutral
30.85
Price Trends
30.38
Negative
29.69
Negative
27.99
Positive
Market Momentum
-0.47
Positive
40.97
Neutral
36.30
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ASB, the sentiment is Neutral. The current price of 30.85 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 29.56, above the 50-day MA of 30.38, and above the 200-day MA of 27.99, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.47 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 40.97 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 36.30 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Neutral sentiment for ASB.
Associated Banc-Corp Risk Analysis
Associated Banc-Corp disclosed 67 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Associated Banc-Corp reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Associated Banc-Corp Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (68)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
81 Outperform | $5.10B | 7.71 | 11.21% | 3.98% | -0.40% | -1.91% | |
74 Outperform | $6.16B | 10.33 | 8.94% | 2.87% | 2.88% | 30.47% | |
70 Outperform | $5.47B | 14.70 | 9.25% | 0.98% | 2.30% | -2.55% | |
69 Neutral | $5.48B | 10.03 | 9.86% | 3.31% | 20.11% | 273.05% | |
68 Neutral | $18.00B | 11.42 | 9.92% | 3.81% | 9.73% | 1.22% | |
66 Neutral | $5.72B | 17.78 | 7.61% | 3.01% | 20.01% | 26.97% | |
51 Neutral | $4.86B | 343.11 | 0.59% | 0.34% | -21.42% | ― |
* Financial Sector Average
ASB
Associated Banc-Corp
29.00
3.31
12.89%
ABCB
Ameris Bancorp
81.44
7.30
9.85%
OZK
Bank OZK
46.71
-3.03
-6.09%
FNB
F.N.B.
17.45
1.45
9.06%
GBCI
Glacier Bancorp
43.91
-3.22
-6.84%
FLG
Flagstar Financial
11.70
-0.36
-3.01%
Associated Banc-Corp Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Associated Banc-Corp Highlights Ongoing Strategic Growth Momentum
Positive
Sep 14, 2026
Associated Banc-Corp reported that its third-quarter 2026 investor presentation, dated September 14, 2026, highlights sustained organic growth momentum and a strengthened franchise under its strategic plan launched in September 2021. The bank has ...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Associated Banc-Corp announces leadership transition in legal governance
Positive
Sep 2, 2026
Associated Banc-Corp announced on September 2, 2026, that longtime executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary Randall J. Erickson will retire from his role effective October 13, 2026, after more than 14 years in the position...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.