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

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

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

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

UNTY opened at $31.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $319.44 million, a P/E ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 1.02. Unity Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.50 and a 12 month high of $35.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.25.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $25.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.81 million. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 24.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Unity Bancorp will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total transaction of $26,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 166 shares in the company, valued at $5,805.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.97, for a total value of $26,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,805.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Minsu Kim sold 2,264 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,727.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,046 shares of company stock worth $106,265 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $884,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 75.2% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 7,104 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in Unity Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $202,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Unity Bancorp by 1.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 478,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,159,000 after buying an additional 5,449 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 47.4% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 16,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 5,352 shares during the last quarter. 42.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.