Should I Buy ASB? ASB 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Associated Banc-Corp (ASB) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Hold

Latest Price

29.370

1 Day change

2.33%

52 Week Range

29.520

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/04

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Not a good buy right now for an impatient buyer: price (~28.24 pre-market) is already pressing into resistance (above R1 28.15 and below R2 28.66) with short-term momentum looking stretched.
Upside to the clustered Street targets (~~$30) is limited (~~6%), while near-term pattern stats imply a slightly negative next-day bias.
Insider selling is a key red flag (selling up ~560% last month), which outweighs the otherwise constructive trend.

Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals

AI Stock Picker: No signal on given stock today.
SwingMax: No signal on given stock today.

Technical Analysis

Trend: Bullish structure (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200) confirms an uptrend.
Momentum: MACD histogram +0.134 and expanding -> bullish continuation pressure.
RSI (6): ~74.99 -> stretched/near-overbought conditions, raising risk of a near-term pullback.
Levels: Pivot 27.33 (key “line in the sand” support); Resistance R1 28.15 already exceeded pre-market; next resistance R2 28.66.
Near-term pattern odds: Similar-pattern study suggests ~60% chance of -0.77% next day; +0.9% next week; +10.34% next month (bullish longer horizon, choppy near-term).

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Sentiment (Open Interest): Put/Call OI ratio 0.27 is call-heavy (bullish positioning).
Activity (Volume): Reported option volume is essentially 0 today, so the call-heavy OI may not reflect fresh, high-conviction buying.
Volatility: 30D IV ~41.39 vs historical vol ~36.67 (IV slightly elevated); IV percentile ~49 (mid-range), not screaming “crowded trade.”

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Technical uptrend remains intact (bullish moving averages + positive MACD).
- Analysts raised price targets recently to ~$30 following Q4 results, citing higher net interest income, higher fees, and lower charge-offs.
- Hedge funds: Neutral (no major pressure either way).
- Longer-horizon pattern stats point to a potentially constructive 1-month move (+10.34% in the pattern sample).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Insiders are selling aggressively (selling amount up ~560% over the last month) -> poor near-term signal.
- No fresh news catalysts in the past week to power a breakout through 28.66 resistance.
- Near-term pattern study skew suggests a slightly negative next-day expectation (-0.77%).
- Options volume is absent today, reducing confidence that options are “confirming” a bullish move.

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q4.
Revenue: 385,728,000, up +533.42% YoY (very strong top-line growth in the snapshot).
Profitability: Net income 134,254,000 down -182.02% YoY; EPS 0.81 down -177.88% YoY -> earnings power vs prior year appears meaningfully worse in this dataset despite revenue strength.
Takeaway: Mixed quarter—top-line surged, but bottom-line/EPS trend is unfavorable in the provided YoY figures.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent rating trend: Multiple firms lifted price targets to ~$30 after Q4, but kept neutral/hold-style ratings (Hold / Neutral / Sector Perform / Market Perform / Equal Weight).
What Wall Street likes: Better net interest income, fee outlook, controlled expenses, stable-to-improving credit, healthy C&I loan growth and deposit trends.
What Wall Street is cautious about: Ratings remain non-bullish (no clear “Buy” endorsements here), implying limited conviction and more “fairly valued” framing near current levels.
Politicians / Congress: No recent congress trading data available (no signal from that channel).

7 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast ASB stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for ASB is 29.71 USD with a low forecast of 29 USD and a high forecast of 32 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

1 Buy

6 Hold

0 Sell

Hold

Current: 28.700

Low

Averages

29.71

High

Current: 28.700

Low

Averages

29.71

High

Truist

Hold

maintain

$29 -> $30

AI Analysis

2026-01-26

Reason

Truist

Price Target

$29 -> $30

AI Analysis

2026-01-26

maintain

Hold

Reason

Truist raised the firm's price target on Associated Banc-Corp to $30 from $29 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares after its Q4 results. The firm's revisions are mostly driven by higher net interest income, higher fees, and lower charge-offs, and partially offset by higher expenses, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Piper Sandler

R. Scott Siefers

Neutral

maintain

$27 -> $30

2026-01-23

Reason

Piper Sandler

R. Scott Siefers

Price Target

$27 -> $30

2026-01-23

maintain

Neutral

Reason

Piper Sandler analyst R. Scott Siefers raised the firm's price target on Associated Banc-Corp to $30 from $27 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares following quarterly results. The firm says that overall, it was a good Q4 but, more importantly, a solid FY26E outlook that puts upward pressure on its EPS estimates.

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ASB Should I Buy

ASB Should I Buy

Should You Buy Associated Banc-Corp (ASB) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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