Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $785,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.19% of Unity Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 81,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 70.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 12,494 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 5,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 23,726 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNTY has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on 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 Unity Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of Unity Bancorp stock traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $53.72. The company had a trading volume of 30,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,427. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $538.81 million, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.85 and a 200 day moving average of $46.10. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.23 and a 52-week high of $54.64.

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

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Unity Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 12.15%.

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.