Auburn National Bancorporation (NASDAQ:AUBN) versus ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) Head-To-Head Review

Auburn National Bancorporation (NASDAQ:AUBN) and ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Dividends

Auburn National Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. ChoiceOne Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Auburn National Bancorporation pays out 469.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. ChoiceOne Financial Services pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Auburn National Bancorporation has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and ChoiceOne Financial Services has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Auburn National Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

39.5% of Auburn National Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.9% of ChoiceOne Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 24.4% of Auburn National Bancorporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of ChoiceOne Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Auburn National Bancorporation has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ChoiceOne Financial Services has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Auburn National Bancorporation and ChoiceOne Financial Services’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Auburn National Bancorporation	$31.39 million	1.96	$1.39 million	$0.23	76.52
ChoiceOne Financial Services	$80.63 million	2.69	$21.26 million	$2.81	10.21

ChoiceOne Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Auburn National Bancorporation. ChoiceOne Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Auburn National Bancorporation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Auburn National Bancorporation and ChoiceOne Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Auburn National Bancorporation	2.47%	1.13%	0.08%
ChoiceOne Financial Services	17.53%	11.15%	0.83%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Auburn National Bancorporation and ChoiceOne Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Auburn National Bancorporation	0	0	0	0	N/A
ChoiceOne Financial Services	0	1	0	0	2.00

ChoiceOne Financial Services has a consensus price target of $24.00, indicating a potential downside of 16.38%. Given ChoiceOne Financial Services’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ChoiceOne Financial Services is more favorable than Auburn National Bancorporation.

Summary

ChoiceOne Financial Services beats Auburn National Bancorporation on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Auburn National Bancorporation

Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for AuburnBank that provides various banking products and services in East Alabama. The company offers checking, savings, and transaction deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial, financial, agricultural, real estate construction, and consumer loan products; and other financial services. In addition, the company offers automated teller services; debit cards; online banking, bill payment, and other electronic banking services; and safe deposit boxes. Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Auburn, Alabama.

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. It also provides commercial lending products, such as business, industry, agricultural, construction, inventory, and real estate loans; and consumer loans comprising direct and indirect loans to consumers and purchasers of residential and real properties. In addition, the company offers alternative investment products, which include annuities and mutual funds; and sells insurance policies, such as life and health for commercial and consumer clients. Further, it provides trust and wealth management services. ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Sparta, Michigan.