ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) Short Interest Update

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 550,200 shares, an increase of 17.6% from the February 13th total of 467,900 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 16.8 days.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of COFS stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.86. 34,708 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,878. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.46 and its 200-day moving average is $33.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $258.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.72. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a 52 week low of $21.52 and a 52 week high of $38.15.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. ChoiceOne Financial Services had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 19.21%. As a group, research analysts forecast that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded ChoiceOne Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Hovde Group assumed coverage on ChoiceOne Financial Services in a research note on Monday, March 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on ChoiceOne Financial Services from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ChoiceOne Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fourthstone LLC boosted its holdings in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 476,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after buying an additional 121,473 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 438,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,631,000 after buying an additional 36,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 224,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,994,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,906,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 188,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,706,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Company Profile

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ChoiceOne Bank that provides banking services to corporations, partnerships, and individuals in Michigan. The company offers various deposit products, including time, savings, and demand deposits, safe deposit, and automated transaction machine services.