ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) Short Interest Up 8.2% in December

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:COFS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 313,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the November 30th total of 289,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 31,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson started coverage on ChoiceOne Financial Services in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ COFS opened at $35.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $319.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current 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 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 yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from ChoiceOne Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Institutional Trading of ChoiceOne Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COFS. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,962,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $6,906,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 32,725 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services during the third quarter valued at $3,625,000. Finally, Jacobs Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,091,000. Hedge funds and other 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.