Royce & Associates LP Has $8.04 Million Stock Position in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Royce & Associates LP cut its position in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,973 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.85% of Unity Bancorp worth $8,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. Institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary E. Gross sold 3,300 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $158,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $887,731.16. This trade represents a 15.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $92,035.02. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $422,415.84. This represents a 17.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $380,669 in the last 90 days. 28.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $54.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Unity Bancorp stock opened at $42.08 on Wednesday. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.60 and a 52-week high of $51.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $423.24 million, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.20.

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

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 1.33%. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.79%.

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.