Reviewing Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) and Herbalife (NYSE:HLF)

Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) and Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nature’s Sunshine Products and Herbalife”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nature’s Sunshine Products	$480.14 million	0.47	$19.52 million	$1.01	12.77
Herbalife	$5.04 billion	0.25	$228.30 million	$1.55	7.81

Herbalife has higher revenue and earnings than Nature’s Sunshine Products. Herbalife is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nature’s Sunshine Products, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Nature’s Sunshine Products and Herbalife’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nature’s Sunshine Products	3.68%	12.88%	8.17%
Herbalife	3.16%	-43.90%	7.89%

Volatility & Risk

Nature’s Sunshine Products has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Herbalife has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Nature’s Sunshine Products and Herbalife, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nature’s Sunshine Products	0	1	2	0	2.67
Herbalife	0	4	3	1	2.62

Nature’s Sunshine Products currently has a consensus target price of $30.50, indicating a potential upside of 136.45%. Herbalife has a consensus target price of $17.67, indicating a potential upside of 45.87%. Given Nature’s Sunshine Products’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nature’s Sunshine Products is more favorable than Herbalife.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.4% of Nature’s Sunshine Products shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Nature’s Sunshine Products shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Herbalife shares are owned 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.

Summary

Nature’s Sunshine Products beats Herbalife on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nature’s Sunshine Products

Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc., a natural health and wellness company, manufactures and sells nutritional and personal care products in Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and internationally. It offers general health products related to blood sugar support, bone health, cellular health, cognitive function, joint health, mood, sexual health, sleep, sports and energy, and vision. The company also provides immunity, cardiovascular, and digestive products; and personal care products, such as oils and lotions, aloe vera gels, herbal shampoos, herbal skin treatment, toothpaste, and skin cleansers, as well as weight management products. It offers its products under the Nature’s Sunshine and Synergy WorldWide brands through a sales force of independent consultants. Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah.

About Herbalife

Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotional items. The company also provides weight management products, including meal replacement products, protein shakes, drink mixes, weight loss supplements, healthy snacks, and metabolism boosting teas; targeted nutrition products, which comprise functional beverages, and dietary and nutritional supplements that contain herbs, vitamins, minerals, and other natural ingredients; outer nutrition products, such as facial skin, body, and hair care products; and energy, sports, and fitness products, including N-R-G tea and energy drink products. In addition, it offers literature, promotional, and other materials that comprise start-up kits, sales tools, and educational materials. The company sells its products through sales representatives, independent service providers, and company-operated retail platforms. Herbalife Ltd. was formerly known as Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. and changed its name to Herbalife Ltd. in April 2023. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.