Unity Bancorp’s (UNTY) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $54.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $53.00.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com downgraded Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Unity Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 1.9 %

UNTY stock opened at $46.25 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $44.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.61. Unity Bancorp has a 12 month low of $25.33 and a 12 month high of $48.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $462.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David G. Bove sold 4,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $194,932.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,837 shares in the company, valued at $460,174.86. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total value of $125,272.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 39,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,768,214.28. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,810 shares of company stock valued at $499,642 over the last quarter. Insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 7.3% during the second 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 buying an additional 2,393 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $14,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,449 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $623,000. Institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

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.