Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $51.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 16.65% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of UNTY opened at $47.15 on Thursday. Unity Bancorp has a 1 year low of $25.33 and a 1 year high of $48.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.80. The firm has a market cap of $471.03 million, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.03.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 24.46%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David G. Bove sold 4,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total transaction of $194,932.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,837 shares in the company, valued at $460,174.86. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total value of $125,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,768,214.28. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,810 shares of company stock worth $499,642 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNTY. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $845,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $135,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 79.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 88,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 39,033 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 93.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

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.