Clinton-based Unity Bank was the top-ranked New Jersey community bank on the recently published American Banker magazine list of the Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks with less than $2 billion in assets.
Unity was ranked No. 20 nationally on the list, which reviewed 511 institutions throughout the country.
The magazine ranked banks and thrifts that had total assets of less than $2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020, and are publicly traded. Unity Bank has been on the list for six consecutive years.
The ranking is based on three-year return on average equity, a measure of profitability that calculates how many dollars of profit a company generates with each dollar of shareholders’ equity. The ROAE for the 511 institutions was 8.81%. Unity Bancorp’s ROAE three-year average was 15.72%.
“We are honored to be the top-ranked community bank in New Jersey on the American Banker list, as it illustrates Unity’s continued financial strength and performance,” Unity Bank CEO James Hughes said. “The bank is off to a strong start in 2021, but we would not be in the position we are today without the dedication of our employees and the loyalty and trust of our customers.
“The commitment our employees demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic has been extraordinary. We anticipate our mortgage and U.S. Small Business Administration lending areas to be strong contributors in 2021, and we believe the interest rate environment should provide for a stable margin.”
Over the last 15 months, Unity has been focused on providing customers access to credit, particularly through round one and two of the SBA Paycheck Protection Program, the special funding initiative designed to help small businesses survive the crisis. The bank funded 1,947 PPP loans totaling $228 million.
Unity Bank provides financial services to businesses and consumers at 19 branches throughout New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.
