On April 19, 2023, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC announced that its holdings in Unity Bancorp, Inc. increased by 168.0% during the fourth quarter of the previous year. According to the firm’s most recent 13F filing with the SEC, it owned about 11,035 shares of Unity Bancorp worth $302,000 at the end of the reporting period. With this aggressive investment strategy, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC is making a clear statement about its confidence in Unity Bancorp’s financial services.
Unity Bancorp recently paid out a quarterly dividend of $0.12 on March 24th to investors of record as of March 10th. The ex-dividend date was declared on March 9th with an annualized yield of 2.13%. This represents an improvement over Unity Bancorp’s earlier quarterly dividend payout of $0.11 and presents an attractive opportunity for investors looking to generate steady income from dividends.
Despite conventional wisdom suggesting that higher dividend payouts are a sign of strong financials and growth potential, Unity Bancorp has recently received mixed reviews from equity research analysts. On one hand, StockNews.com recently initiated coverage on Unity Bancorp with a “hold” rating on its stock while Keefe Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Unity Bancorp from $34 to $31.50 while maintaining its “outperform” rating. On the other hand, TheStreet downgraded Unity Bancorp from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating back in February.
All in all, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC appears optimistic about investing in Unity Bancorp despite contrasting ratings by analysts who track its performance for investors who want exposure to its financial services sector through buying shares in its public company stock.&
Unity Bancorp Reports Higher Than Expected EPS and Positive Investor Reaction
Unity Bancorp Inc. recently released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 17th, revealing a higher than expected EPS of $0.96 for the quarter, outperforming the average analyst estimates by $0.05. This news led to a positive reaction from investors and securities analysts alike. Consequently, institutional investors and hedge funds such as Summit Global Investments, River Oaks Capital LLC, Strs Ohio and 4J Wealth Management LLC increased their stakes in Unity Bancorp, while Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings by 8.1% during the third quarter.
Despite this positivity, Director Wayne Courtright sold 3,940 shares of company stock in March at an average price of $24.50 per share for a total value of $96,530. CFO George Boyan purchased 2,150 shares of Unity Bancorp stock in early March at an average price of $25.29 per share with a total value of $54,373.50.
Additionally worthy of mention is that insiders have sold a total of 34,907 shares valued at $928,355 over the past 90 days with corporate insiders owning 32.35% of the company’s stock.
In other news, the financial services provider recently announced a quarterly dividend which was paid to shareholders on Friday March 24th after investors received $0.12 dividend for each share they held provided they were recorded as owners prior to Friday March 10th prior to ex-dividend date on Thursday March 9th. This represents an increase from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend payout ratio from $0.11 to the current rate which stands at an annualized basis and yield rate respectively of $0.48 and 2.13%.
At present UNTY stock trades above its yearly low price point achieved late last year at around USD21:70 and below its high reached earlier this year at just over USD30. With a market cap of USD238.36 million, Unity Bancorp’s debt-to-equity ratio is 1:64 and its beta is 1:00. The company has a P/E ratio of 6:28 alongside a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.
Broadly speaking analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp stands at growing their earnings per share for this fiscal year to reach an estimated figure of $3.52.
This financial update signals promising signs for Unity Bancorp and serves as evidence to investors that even in turbulent times clarity can arise from the murky waters of unclear economic pathways.
