Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 28,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Unity Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $135,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,159 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on UNTY shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Unity Bancorp from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

UNTY traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,954. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $41.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.60 and a twelve month high of $51.22.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $29.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Unity Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.15%.

Insider Transactions at Unity Bancorp

In related news, Director Donald E. Jr. Souders sold 1,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $54,959.59. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,506.71. This represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 29.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.