Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Shares Pass Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)’s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.67 and traded as high as $47.53. Unity Bancorp shares last traded at $46.61, with a volume of 30,691 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on UNTY. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Unity Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Unity Bancorp Trading Up 0.7 %

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 firm has a market cap of $467.63 million, a PE ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.91.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $27.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.40 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 24.46% and a return on equity of 14.63%. As a group, analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unity Bancorp news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.98, for a total value of $46,914.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,250 shares in the company, valued at $371,085. This trade represents a 11.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark S. Brody sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.33, for a total value of $132,524.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,313,194.66. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,643 shares of company stock worth $304,710 in the last quarter. 28.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $623,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Unity Bancorp by 93.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $202,000. Princeton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Unity Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 1.2% during the second 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 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.