Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Raises Dividend to $0.14 Per Share

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

Unity Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 13.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Unity Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 9.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Unity Bancorp to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.6%.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

UNTY stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $46.16. 32,694 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,833. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.06 and its 200 day moving average is $41.07. Unity Bancorp has a 12-month low of $25.60 and a 12-month high of $51.22. The company has a market cap of $460.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 25.24%. On average, research analysts expect that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unity Bancorp news, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total value of $125,272.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,214.28. This trade represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David G. Bove sold 4,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $194,932.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,174.86. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,758 shares of company stock valued at $700,874 in the last quarter. 28.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UNTY shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

About Unity Bancorp

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.