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

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 337,600 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the December 31st total of 313,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 31,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.7 days.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of COFS stock opened at $34.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $305.00 million, a P/E ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a 12-month low of $21.52 and a 12-month high of $38.15.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts expect that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from ChoiceOne Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 34.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ChoiceOne Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COFS. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $10,962,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $6,906,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 21.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 187,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,792,000 after buying an additional 32,725 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $3,625,000. Finally, Jacobs Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,091,000. 19.90% of the stock is currently 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.