Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $57.24 and last traded at $56.28, with a volume of 45173 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UNTY shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Unity Bancorp from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Unity Bancorp Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $557.12 million, a PE ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.30.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $32.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.35 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 29.85% and a return on equity of 15.60%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Unity Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Unity Bancorp by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 163,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,689,000 after buying an additional 24,528 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $411,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $785,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Unity Bancorp by 20.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 5,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 50,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.