Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $65.50.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNTY. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 31st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Unity Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Unity Bancorp from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th.

Unity Bancorp Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of UNTY stock opened at $58.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $587.94 million, a PE ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.76. Unity Bancorp has a 1-year low of $44.34 and a 1-year high of $62.50.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $33.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.62 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 30.26% and a return on equity of 16.10%. On average, analysts predict that Unity Bancorp will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 11.83%.

Insider Activity at Unity Bancorp

In other news, President George Boyan sold 6,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.16, for a total transaction of $384,776.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 25,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,479,887.40. This represents a 20.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 28.87% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Unity Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $32,299,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 159,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Unity Bancorp by 9.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 4,308 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $2,410,000. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 33,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Unity Bancorp Company Profile

Unity Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Unity Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in Clinton, New Jersey. The company provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

Unity Bank offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer lending, residential mortgages, home equity financing, commercial real estate loans, construction financing and business loans.