Prescott Group Capital Managem Purchases 96,000 Shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) Stock

Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATR) major shareholder Prescott Group Capital Managem bought 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.63 per share, for a total transaction of $1,596,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,883,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,324,434.30. The trade was a 5.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prescott Group Capital Managem also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 10th, Prescott Group Capital Managem purchased 40,876 shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.84 per share, with a total value of $647,475.84.
• On Thursday, August 6th, Prescott Group Capital Managem acquired 4,513 shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.57 per share, with a total value of $74,780.41.

Nature’s Sunshine Products Price Performance

Shares of NATR stock traded down $0.61 on Monday, hitting $15.77. The stock had a trading volume of 426,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,474. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.44. Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.97 and a 1 year high of $28.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.55 million, a P/E ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 0.88.

Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $116.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.70 million. Nature’s Sunshine Products had a net margin of 3.68% and a return on equity of 12.88%.

Institutional Trading of Nature’s Sunshine Products

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,561,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products during the fourth quarter worth $4,544,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products during the second quarter worth $1,923,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Nature’s Sunshine Products by 268.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 171,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,123,000 after buying an additional 125,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nature’s Sunshine Products by 15.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 803,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,464,000 after buying an additional 106,688 shares during the last quarter. 79.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NATR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Nature’s Sunshine Products from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Nature’s Sunshine Products from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Nature’s Sunshine Products from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Nature’s Sunshine Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nature’s Sunshine Products has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

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.