Short Interest in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Grows By 28.4%

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 51,100 shares, a growth of 28.4% from the December 31st total of 39,800 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 35,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unity Bancorp news, SVP David G. Bove sold 4,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total transaction of $194,932.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,174.86. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total value of $125,272.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 39,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,214.28. The trade was a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,110 shares of company stock worth $658,174 in the last ninety days. 28.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 79.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 88,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,005,000 after acquiring an additional 39,033 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $845,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $623,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNTY. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective (up previously from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UNTY opened at $48.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $483.02 million, a P/E ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.20. Unity Bancorp has a twelve month low of $25.33 and a twelve month high of $49.13.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 25.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

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.