Unity Bancorp’s (UNTY) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reissued their buy rating on shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $68.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Unity Bancorp from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Unity Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 2.8%

Unity Bancorp stock opened at $56.06 on Tuesday. Unity Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.34 and a fifty-two week high of $62.50. The stock has a market cap of $562.84 million, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $36.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.63 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 31.00% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Research analysts predict that Unity Bancorp will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 11.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unity Bancorp news, President George Boyan sold 6,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.16, for a total value of $384,776.64. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 25,015 shares in the company, valued at $1,479,887.40. The trade was a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Unity Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the second quarter worth $92,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Unity Bancorp by 17.3% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $268,000. Institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Unity Bancorp Company Profile

Unity Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Unity Bank, a community-focused financial institution serving individuals, families and businesses in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Clinton, New Jersey, Unity Bank operates through a network of branches and provides relationship-based banking services to customers in its local markets.

The bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit. Its lending activities include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgages, home equity loans and consumer loans.