Prudential Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $450,000. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.10% of Unity Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,198,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 97,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,273,000 after acquiring an additional 34,089 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 94,750 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 39,033 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Unity Bancorp by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 10,167 shares in the last quarter. 42.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Unity Bancorp

In other news, Director Mary E. Gross sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $158,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,479 shares in the company, valued at $887,731.16. This represents a 15.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total value of $92,035.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,415.84. This represents a 17.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock valued at $380,669 over the last 90 days. 29.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Unity Bancorp from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of UNTY traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.91. 3,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,314. The stock has a market cap of $411.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.80. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.60 and a 1-year high of $51.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.81 and a 200-day moving average of $43.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $29.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.81 million. Unity Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 25.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Unity Bancorp's payout ratio is 13.79%.

Unity Bancorp 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.