Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Price Target Cut to $50.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $54.00 to $50.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UNTY opened at $39.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $400.71 million, a P/E ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Unity Bancorp has a 12-month low of $25.60 and a 12-month high of $51.22.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business had revenue of $29.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Unity Bancorp news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 1,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $52,790.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,975 shares in the company, valued at $243,178. This trade represents a 17.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total value of $92,035.02. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,415.84. The trade was a 17.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,791 shares of company stock valued at $380,669. Company insiders own 29.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Unity Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 11,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Unity Bancorp by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Unity Bancorp by 11,262.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

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.