Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $39.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 15th.

Unity Bancorp Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Unity Bancorp stock opened at $35.56 on Friday. Unity Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.50 and a 1 year high of $35.66. The firm has a market cap of $357.02 million, a PE ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Minsu Kim sold 2,264 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.90, for a total value of $79,013.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,727.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Unity Bancorp news, SVP Minsu Kim sold 2,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.90, for a total value of $79,013.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,727.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $70,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,359.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,896 shares of company stock valued at $150,732. 28.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNTY. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $117,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 18.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. 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.