Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Short Interest Update

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 61,600 shares, a growth of 20.5% from the January 15th total of 51,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 39,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total value of $92,035.02. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,415.84. This trade represents a 17.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 1,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total transaction of $52,790.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,178. The trade was a 17.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,558 shares of company stock worth $833,398 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $135,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $154,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ UNTY opened at $48.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.22. The firm has a market cap of $482.42 million, a PE ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.03. Unity Bancorp has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $51.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 15.08%. On average, research analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is 12.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNTY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Unity Bancorp Company 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.