Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Stock Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.67 and traded as high as $47.53. Unity Bancorp shares last traded at $46.61, with a volume of 30,691 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNTY. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Unity Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.91. The company has a market cap of $467.63 million, a PE ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 1.03.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $27.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.40 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 24.46% and a return on equity of 14.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.37%.

Insider Activity at Unity Bancorp

In other news, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total value of $125,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,214.28. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.98, for a total transaction of $46,914.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,085. This represents a 11.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,643 shares of company stock valued at $304,710. 28.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 94,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,227,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 2,329.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.