Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Unity Bancorp Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of UNTY opened at $28.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.56. Unity Bancorp has a one year low of $22.49 and a one year high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $289.65 million, a P/E ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.02.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $25.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.15 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Unity Bancorp news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total transaction of $70,694.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,359.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 28.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Unity Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position 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 worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 75.2% during the 1st 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. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 16,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 5,352 shares during the period. 42.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.