Head-To-Head Review: Medifast (NYSE:MED) and Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR)

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

Profitability

This table compares Nature’s Sunshine Products and Medifast’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%
Medifast	-13.64%	-6.90%	-5.34%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nature’s Sunshine Products and Medifast”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nature’s Sunshine Products	$480.14 million	0.45	$19.52 million	$1.01	12.13
Medifast	$299.57 million	0.46	-$18.67 million	($3.69)	-3.35

Nature’s Sunshine Products has higher revenue and earnings than Medifast. Medifast 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.4% of Nature’s Sunshine Products shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Medifast shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Nature’s Sunshine Products shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Medifast 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.

Volatility and Risk

Nature’s Sunshine Products has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medifast has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nature’s Sunshine Products	0	1	2	0	2.67
Medifast	1	1	0	1	2.33

Nature’s Sunshine Products presently has a consensus target price of $30.50, indicating a potential upside of 148.98%. Medifast has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.99%. Given Nature’s Sunshine Products’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Nature’s Sunshine Products is more favorable than Medifast.

Summary

Nature’s Sunshine Products beats Medifast on 11 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 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.