Unity Bancorp, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.14 (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 20th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%.

Unity Bancorp has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Unity Bancorp has a payout ratio of 10.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Unity Bancorp to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.3%.

Unity Bancorp Trading Down 1.5%

Unity Bancorp stock opened at $43.03 on Friday. Unity Bancorp has a 12-month low of $25.60 and a 12-month high of $51.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $431.63 million, a PE ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $28.81 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler decreased 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Donald E. Jr. Souders sold 1,333 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.23, for a total transaction of $54,959.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,506.71. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 29.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 70.8% in 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. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $283,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.31% of the company's stock.

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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