Reviewing Medifast (NYSE:MED) and Mannatech (NASDAQ:MTEX)

Mannatech (NASDAQ:MTEX) and Medifast (NYSE:MED) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.0% of Mannatech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Medifast shares are owned by institutional investors. 47.5% of Mannatech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Medifast shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Mannatech has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medifast has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Mannatech and Medifast’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mannatech	-6.90%	-2,383.34%	-24.43%
Medifast	-8.08%	-6.69%	-5.25%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Mannatech and Medifast”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mannatech	$108.04 million	0.11	-$15.21 million	($3.91)	-1.60
Medifast	$385.79 million	0.33	-$18.67 million	($2.33)	-4.91

Mannatech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Medifast. Medifast is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mannatech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Mannatech and Medifast, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mannatech	1	0	0	0	1.00
Medifast	1	2	0	0	1.67

Medifast has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.90%. Given Medifast’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Medifast is more favorable than Mannatech.

Summary

Medifast beats Mannatech on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mannatech

Mannatech, Incorporated operates as a health and wellness company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company develops, markets, and sells nutritional supplements; topical and skin care, and anti-aging products; and weight-management and fitness products. It primarily sells its products directly, as well as through e-commerce and network marketing channels. Mannatech, Incorporated was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Flower Mound, Texas.

About Medifast

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. It offers bars, puffs, cereal, crunchers, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups under the OPTAVIA, OPTAVIA ACTIVE, and Optimal Health brand names. The company markets its products through point-of-sale transactions, as well as through ecommerce platform. Medifast, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.