Unity Bancorp’s (UNTY) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $51.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $54.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UNTY opened at $47.15 on Thursday. 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 has a one year low of $25.33 and a one year high of $48.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.86. The company has a market capitalization of $471.03 million, a P/E ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.03.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 24.46%. Analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 13.37%.

Insider Transactions at Unity Bancorp

In other Unity Bancorp news, SVP David G. Bove sold 4,167 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $194,932.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,174.86. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.98, for a total value of $46,914.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,085. This trade represents a 11.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,810 shares of company stock worth $499,642. 28.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNTY. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Unity Bancorp by 84.6% in 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 stake in shares of Unity Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $135,000. Princeton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $208,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Unity Bancorp by 93.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Unity Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $623,000. Institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

About Unity Bancorp

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.