Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) Short Interest Down 19.2% in May

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,500 shares, a decrease of 19.2% from the May 15th total of 26,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vincent Geraci sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $70,694.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,359.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNTY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Unity Bancorp by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 414,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,427,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Unity Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $884,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Unity Bancorp by 7.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Unity Bancorp by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Unity Bancorp by 6.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. 42.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Unity Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th.

Unity Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of UNTY opened at $25.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.63 million, a PE ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.06 and its 200-day moving average is $27.60. Unity Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.49 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $25.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.15 million. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 15.23%. Equities analysts forecast that Unity Bancorp will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 13.65%.

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.