Unity Bancorp (UNTY) Competitors

Nicolet Bankshares (NYSE:NIC) and Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, community ranking, risk, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and valuation.

Does the media refer more to NIC or UNTY?

In the previous week, Nicolet Bankshares had 2 more articles in the media than Unity Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Nicolet Bankshares and 3 mentions for Unity Bancorp. Unity Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat Nicolet Bankshares' score of 1.09 indicating that Unity Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nicolet Bankshares	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Unity Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, NIC or UNTY?

Nicolet Bankshares has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unity Bancorp has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NIC or UNTY?

Unity Bancorp received 166 more outperform votes than Nicolet Bankshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.50% of users gave Unity Bancorp an outperform vote while only 11.54% of users gave Nicolet Bankshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Nicolet Bankshares	Outperform Votes 3 11.54%	Underperform Votes 23 88.46%
Unity Bancorp	Outperform Votes 169 64.50%	Underperform Votes 93 35.50%

Is NIC or UNTY more profitable?

Unity Bancorp has a net margin of 25.24% compared to Nicolet Bankshares' net margin of 23.83%. Unity Bancorp's return on equity of 15.08% beat Nicolet Bankshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nicolet Bankshares	23.83%	10.95%	1.41%
Unity Bancorp	25.24%	15.08%	1.59%

Do analysts prefer NIC or UNTY?

Nicolet Bankshares presently has a consensus price target of $119.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.05%. Unity Bancorp has a consensus price target of $54.50, indicating a potential upside of 29.39%. Given Unity Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Unity Bancorp is more favorable than Nicolet Bankshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nicolet Bankshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Unity Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, NIC or UNTY?

Nicolet Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Unity Bancorp. Unity Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nicolet Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nicolet Bankshares	$349.12M	4.88	$124.06M	$8.03	13.97
Unity Bancorp	$105.94M	4.00	$41.45M	$4.06	10.37

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in NIC or UNTY?

43.1% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.3% of Unity Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of Nicolet Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 29.7% of Unity Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is NIC or UNTY a better dividend stock?

Nicolet Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Unity Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nicolet Bankshares pays out 13.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Unity Bancorp pays out 13.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Unity Bancorp has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Unity Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Unity Bancorp beats Nicolet Bankshares on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.