Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $39.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 15th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of UNTY opened at $33.93 on Friday. Unity Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.50 and a 52 week high of $35.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $338.62 million, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 1.02.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.01). Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 24.37%. The company had revenue of $25.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.81 million. On average, analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.72%.

Insider Transactions at Unity Bancorp

In other news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total transaction of $26,227.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 166 shares in the company, valued at $5,805.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Unity Bancorp news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total transaction of $26,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,805.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Minsu Kim sold 2,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.90, for a total value of $79,013.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,727.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,046 shares of company stock valued at $106,265 in the last quarter. 28.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 478,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,449 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 414,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 35,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $884,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 7.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. 42.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.