Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATR) Short Interest Update

Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 583,679 shares, a growth of 70.4% from the May 31st total of 342,571 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 148,550 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nature’s Sunshine Products

In other news, EVP Daniel C. Norman sold 9,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.64, for a total transaction of $200,476.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,276 shares in the company, valued at $975,776.64. This represents a 17.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryant J. Yates sold 11,968 shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total value of $238,163.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,541,175.40. This represents a 13.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,696 shares of company stock valued at $742,407. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 219,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,736,000 after acquiring an additional 48,666 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products by 33.5% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 99,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 340,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,337,000 after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Nature’s Sunshine Products by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 9,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd lifted its holdings in Nature’s Sunshine Products by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 15,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. 79.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $37.00 target price on shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Nature’s Sunshine Products Price Performance

Shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products stock opened at $21.47 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.77. Nature’s Sunshine Products has a 1 year low of $12.97 and a 1 year high of $28.14. The company has a market capitalization of $377.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52 and a beta of 0.87.

Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $122.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.15 million. Nature’s Sunshine Products had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 14.67%.

Nature’s Sunshine Products Company Profile

Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc is a global manufacturer and direct seller of nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, and personal care products. The company’s core business centers on research, development and distribution of vitamins, minerals, botanicals and essential oil-based formulations designed to support overall health and wellness. Operating under a network-marketing model, Nature’s Sunshine works through a network of independent distributors who promote and sell its product line directly to consumers.

The company’s product portfolio spans dietary supplements such as single-ingredient vitamins, proprietary herbal blends, sports nutrition formulas and weight-management solutions, along with skin and hair care items based on botanical extracts and essential oils.