Contrasting Raiffeisen Bank International (OTCMKTS:RAIFY) & ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS)

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) and Raiffeisen Bank International (OTCMKTS:RAIFY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares ChoiceOne Financial Services and Raiffeisen Bank International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ChoiceOne Financial Services	22.77%	12.04%	1.28%
Raiffeisen Bank International	19.31%	10.94%	1.16%

Risk & Volatility

ChoiceOne Financial Services has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Raiffeisen Bank International has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

19.9% of ChoiceOne Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of ChoiceOne Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ChoiceOne Financial Services and Raiffeisen Bank International”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ChoiceOne Financial Services	$227.62 million	2.25	$28.18 million	$3.63	9.45
Raiffeisen Bank International	$14.76 billion	1.67	$1.55 billion	$2.10	8.95

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for ChoiceOne Financial Services and Raiffeisen Bank International, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ChoiceOne Financial Services	0	1	2	0	2.67
Raiffeisen Bank International	0	1	0	1	3.00

ChoiceOne Financial Services presently has a consensus price target of $36.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.41%. Given ChoiceOne Financial Services’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe ChoiceOne Financial Services is more favorable than Raiffeisen Bank International.

Dividends

ChoiceOne Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Raiffeisen Bank International pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. ChoiceOne Financial Services pays out 32.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Raiffeisen Bank International pays out 12.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. ChoiceOne Financial Services has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. ChoiceOne Financial Services is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

ChoiceOne Financial Services beats Raiffeisen Bank International on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Raiffeisen Bank International

Raiffeisen Bank International AG, together with its subsidiaries, offers banking services to corporate, private customers, and institutional customers. The company offers cash management, cross border accounts, electronic banking, payments solutions, sustainable and subsidized financing, leveraged and acquisition financing, project and structured financing, real estate financing, leasing, factoring, trade and export financing, investment banking, investing, hedging, and investor services to its institutional clients and corporate customers in agri food and beverage, automotive, construction and building materials, food and beverage, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, packaging, real estate, retail, technology, telecom, and utilities industries. It also provides retail and private banking services, including deposits, loans, wealth management, and advisory services to retail customers and small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the company offers clearing, reporting, settlement, guarantees, letters of credit, fund administration, acceptances, brokerage, asset management, and custody services; and investment banking services, including asset based finance, fund finance and alternatives investments, loan syndication, mergers and acquisitions advisory, and debt and equity capital markets services. It operates through a network of business outlets in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, as well as Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Raiffeisen Bank International AG was founded in 1886 and is based in Vienna, Austria.