Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Unity Bancorp was upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling increased analyst confidence in the stock.
• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price for Unity Bancorp shares from $55.00 to $63.00, indicating a positive outlook on the company's performance.
• Unity Bancorp reported $1.20 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting strong revenue growth.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Unity Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $56.50.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of UNTY stock traded up $1.77 during trading on Friday, 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 quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock's 50-day moving average is $50.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $538.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.79. Unity Bancorp 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 data 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 analysts' expectations of $30.30 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 15.34%. As a group, analysts predict that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 41.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 748 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 5.1% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 6,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 122.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 612 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 14.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 1.2% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 33,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.