Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 15th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 0.6 %

UNTY opened at $32.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.92. Unity Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.50 and a 52 week high of $35.66. The company has a market capitalization of $322.95 million, a PE ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.01). Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 24.37% and a return on equity of 14.71%. The company had revenue of $25.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.81 million. Analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 13.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Minsu Kim sold 2,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.90, for a total transaction of $79,013.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,727.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Minsu Kim sold 2,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.90, for a total transaction of $79,013.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,727.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total transaction of $26,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 166 shares in the company, valued at $5,805.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,046 shares of company stock worth $106,265. 28.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Unity Bancorp by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 478,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,449 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $202,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Unity Bancorp by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Unity Bancorp by 2,329.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Unity Bancorp by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 35,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. 42.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.