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

Shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research 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 brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.50.

UNTY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Unity Bancorp from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 11th. Freedom Capital upgraded Unity Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unity Bancorp news, President George Boyan sold 6,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 25,015 shares in the company, valued at $1,479,887.40. This trade represents a 20.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 28.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNTY. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,299,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,410,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the second quarter worth $1,976,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the second quarter worth $1,517,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Unity Bancorp during the second quarter worth $1,240,000. 42.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Unity Bancorp Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ UNTY opened at $59.25 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.89 and its 200 day moving average is $55.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Unity Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.34 and a 12 month high of $62.50. The stock has a market cap of $594.87 million, a PE ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 0.61.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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%. Research analysts predict that Unity Bancorp will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a boost from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.83%.

About Unity Bancorp

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.