Royce & Associates LP Cuts Stake in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,973 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 1.85% of Unity Bancorp worth $8,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNTY. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 5.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $623,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Unity Bancorp by 84.6% during the third 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, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Unity Bancorp by 0.6% during the third 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. 42.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary E. Gross sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total transaction of $158,532.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,479 shares in the company, valued at $887,731.16. The trade was a 15.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 1,080 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $52,790.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $243,178. This represents a 17.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock worth $380,669. 29.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

Unity Bancorp stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.14. The stock had a trading volume of 66,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,834. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $423.84 million, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.95. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.60 and a 12 month high of $51.22. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $46.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.25.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 15.08%. As a group, research analysts predict that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Unity Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNTY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $54.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

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.