Empowered Funds LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) by 5.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,608 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Unity Bancorp were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNTY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 1.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 478,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,449 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 414,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,427,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 7.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 35,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 2.4% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Unity Bancorp by 75.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 7,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.98, for a total transaction of $46,914.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,250 shares in the company, valued at $371,085. This represents a 11.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on UNTY shares. StockNews.com lowered Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ UNTY opened at $46.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average of $32.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.33 and a twelve month high of $48.08.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.10. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 24.46%. The business had revenue of $27.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.40 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is 13.37%.

Unity Bancorp Profile

Unity Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Unity Bank that provides range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small and medium sized businesses, and professional communities. It offers personal and business checking accounts, time deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as noninterest and interest-bearing demand deposits.