ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

COFS has been the topic of several other reports. Hovde Group lowered ChoiceOne Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.00.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services stock opened at $27.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $414.20 million, a P/E ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.28. ChoiceOne Financial Services has a twelve month low of $24.89 and a twelve month high of $35.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86.

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $42.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.80 million. ChoiceOne Financial Services had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 11.62%. As a group, research analysts expect that ChoiceOne Financial Services will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ChoiceOne Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. ChoiceOne Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory A. Mcconnell acquired 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.94 per share, with a total value of $29,337.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 37,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,033,780. The trade was a 2.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eric E. Burrough acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.50 per share, with a total value of $137,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 180,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,960,917.50. This represents a 2.85% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 9,350 shares of company stock valued at $261,844. 5.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ChoiceOne Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in ChoiceOne Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at $477,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ChoiceOne Financial Services by 70.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 324,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after buying an additional 133,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its stake in shares of ChoiceOne Financial Services by 58.0% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the period. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ChoiceOne Financial Services

ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Jackson, Michigan. Through its subsidiary, ChoiceOne Bank, it provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in community banking, spanning retail deposits, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, and treasury management solutions.

ChoiceOne Bank offers checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and online and mobile banking platforms designed to meet the needs of its customers.