Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 19,280 Unity Bancorp, Inc. $UNTY

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired 19,280 shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc., valued at approximately $785,000, representing about 0.19% ownership of the company.
• Unity Bancorp has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15, a positive change from the previous $0.14, with the ex-dividend date set for September 5th.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Unity Bancorp, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising their target price from $55.00 to $63.00.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 19,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $785,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.19% of Unity Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 122.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 612 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 11,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 11,262.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $148,000. 42.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on UNTY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Unity Bancorp from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Unity Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Unity Bancorp Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Unity Bancorp stock opened at $51.89 on Friday. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.23 and a 1 year high of $54.64. The company has a market capitalization of $520.46 million, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company's fifty day moving average is $50.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.94.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.30 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 15.34%. Analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Unity Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 12.15%.

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.

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