Is Associated Banc-Corp overvalued or undervalued?

As of 25 January 2024, the valuation grade for Associated Banc-Corp has moved from fair to expensive, indicating a shift towards overvaluation. The company appears overvalued based on its P/E ratio of 29, which is significantly higher than peers like UMB Financial Corp. at 19.64 and Comerica, Inc. at 21.53. Additionally, the EV to EBITDA ratio stands at 35.53, further supporting the notion of overvaluation compared to the industry benchmarks.
The Price to Book Value ratio of 0.96 suggests that the stock is trading close to its book value, but the overall financial metrics, including a low ROE of 3.35% and a high EV to Sales ratio of 2.85, reinforce the expensive valuation. Despite a strong one-year return of 23.32% compared to the S&P 500's 17.14%, the long-term performance shows a significant underperformance over three and ten years, with returns of 28.32% and 96.23% respectively against the S&P 500's 70.41% and 231.64%. This underperformance, combined with the current valuation metrics, suggests that Associated Banc-Corp may not be a compelling investment at its current price.