Short Interest in ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) Grows By 17.6%

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 550,200 shares, a growth of 17.6% from the February 13th total of 467,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 32,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 16.8 days. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ COFS opened at $28.95 on Friday. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a 1-year low of $21.52 and a 1-year high of $38.15. The company has a market capitalization of $259.65 million, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 34.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COFS shares. Hovde Group started coverage on ChoiceOne Financial Services in a report on Monday, March 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on ChoiceOne Financial Services from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded ChoiceOne Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COFS. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 0.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. 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.