Unity Bancorp, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 22nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th.

Unity Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Unity Bancorp has a payout ratio of 11.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Unity Bancorp to earn $4.53 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 11.5%.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Unity Bancorp stock opened at $46.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $465.63 million, a P/E ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.99. Unity Bancorp has a 52 week low of $25.33 and a 52 week high of $48.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.99.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Research analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNTY. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $40.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Unity Bancorp

In related news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,043 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.98, for a total value of $46,914.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,250 shares in the company, valued at $371,085. This trade represents a 11.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 28.88% 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.