ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 32,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 16.8 days. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group started coverage on ChoiceOne Financial Services in a report on Monday, March 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson reduced their price target 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. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded ChoiceOne Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of COFS stock opened at $28.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.12. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a 1 year low of $21.52 and a 1 year high of $38.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $258.94 million, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.72.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last released its 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 return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 19.21%. On average, research analysts predict that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.36%.

Institutional Trading of ChoiceOne Financial Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COFS. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 5.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,093,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 3,986 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $6,906,000. Finally, Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $10,962,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.