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

StockNews.com cut shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UNTY opened at $28.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $286.94 million, a PE ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Unity Bancorp has a twelve month low of $22.49 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.57.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $25.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.15 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 15.23%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 13.65%.

Insider Transactions at Unity Bancorp

In related news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $70,694.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,359.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $117,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Unity Bancorp by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 414,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,427,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 75.2% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 7,104 shares during the period. 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.