Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Stock Rated "Buy" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts are bullish on Unity Bancorp: Six brokerages give the stock an average “Buy” rating—four Buy and two Strong Buy—with an average one-year price target of $65.50.
• The company beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.51 versus $1.49 expected and revenue of $36.65 million versus $35.63 million expected.
• Unity Bancorp raised its quarterly dividend from $0.16 to $0.17 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.68 dividend and a reported 1.2% yield.

Shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Unity Bancorp from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Unity Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:UNTY opened at $57.77 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Unity Bancorp has a one year low of $44.50 and a one year high of $62.50. The company has a market cap of $580.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.62.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.02. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 31.00% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $36.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.63 million. Analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. Unity Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unity Bancorp news, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 470 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.25, for a total value of $26,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,809,293.75. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President George Boyan sold 6,504 shares of the business'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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,819 shares of company stock worth $461,162 over the last ninety days. 28.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $92,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $268,000. 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 community-focused financial institution headquartered in Clinton, New Jersey. The bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through locations primarily serving central New Jersey.

Unity Bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as consumer, residential mortgage and commercial lending.

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