Analyzing Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) and ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS)

ChoiceOne Financial Services (NASDAQ:COFS) and Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

ChoiceOne Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Great Southern Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. ChoiceOne Financial Services pays out 35.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Southern Bancorp pays out 31.4% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for ChoiceOne Financial Services and Great Southern Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ChoiceOne Financial Services	0	0	1	0	3.00
Great Southern Bancorp	0	2	0	0	2.00

ChoiceOne Financial Services presently has a consensus price target of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.06%. Great Southern Bancorp has a consensus price target of $52.00, indicating a potential downside of 13.15%. Given ChoiceOne Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ChoiceOne Financial Services is more favorable than Great Southern Bancorp.

Volatility and Risk

ChoiceOne Financial Services has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Southern Bancorp has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ChoiceOne Financial Services and Great Southern Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ChoiceOne Financial Services	$113.89 million	2.72	$21.26 million	$3.17	10.90
Great Southern Bancorp	$326.91 million	2.14	$67.80 million	$5.10	11.74

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

Profitability

This table compares ChoiceOne Financial Services and Great Southern Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ChoiceOne Financial Services	18.41%	11.79%	0.96%
Great Southern Bancorp	17.21%	10.36%	1.02%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

19.9% of ChoiceOne Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.9% of ChoiceOne Financial Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.7% of Great Southern Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

ChoiceOne Financial Services beats Great Southern Bancorp on 9 of the 17 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 Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, construction loans, home improvement loans, and unsecured consumer loans, as well as secured consumer loans, such as automobile loans, boat loans, home equity loans, and loans secured by savings deposits. It also provides insurance and merchant banking services. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.