Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Plans Dividend Increase - $0.14 Per Share

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Unity Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

Unity Bancorp has raised its dividend by an average of 13.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Unity Bancorp has a payout ratio of 10.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Unity Bancorp to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.3%.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of UNTY traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $46.06. 41,125 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,650. Unity Bancorp has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $51.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.47. The company has a market cap of $459.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Remove Ads

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 15.08%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Unity Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Peter E. Maricondo sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total transaction of $125,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,768,214.28. This represents a 6.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $92,035.02. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,415.84. This trade represents a 17.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,758 shares of company stock valued at $700,874 over the last three months. Insiders own 28.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNTY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th.

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.