Short Interest in ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) Decreases By 86.1%

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 76,700 shares, a drop of 86.1% from the February 28th total of 550,200 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 36,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ COFS traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,881. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a one year low of $21.52 and a one year high of $38.15. The stock has a market cap of $258.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 0.72. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.03.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. ChoiceOne Financial Services had a net margin of 19.21% and a return on equity of 12.44%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 34.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COFS. Janney Montgomery Scott raised ChoiceOne Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on ChoiceOne Financial Services in a research note on Monday, March 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COFS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $6,906,000. Fourthstone LLC bought a new stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,962,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,091,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 97,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 6,209 shares in the last quarter. 19.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ChoiceOne Financial Services

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.