Head-To-Head Review: Mannatech (NASDAQ:MTEX) & Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

13.0% of Mannatech shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.1% of Natural Health Trends shares are held by institutional investors. 47.5% of Mannatech shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Natural Health Trends shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Mannatech has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natural Health Trends has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Mannatech and Natural Health Trends”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mannatech	$107.36 million	0.15	-$15.21 million	($3.91)	-2.11
Natural Health Trends	$36.03 million	0.21	-$880,000.00	($0.16)	-5.63

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

Dividends

Mannatech pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Natural Health Trends pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 44.4%. Mannatech pays out -5.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Natural Health Trends pays out -250.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Natural Health Trends is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Mannatech and Natural Health Trends, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mannatech	1	0	0	0	1.00
Natural Health Trends	1	0	0	0	1.00

Profitability

This table compares Mannatech and Natural Health Trends’ 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%
Natural Health Trends	-4.51%	-8.00%	-4.58%

Summary

Natural Health Trends beats Mannatech on 9 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 Natural Health Trends

Natural Health Trends Corp., a direct-selling and e-commerce company, provides personal care, wellness, and lifestyle products under the NHT Global brand. The company offers wellness products, including liquid, encapsulated, tableted and powder dietary and nutritional supplements, vitamins, and minerals; and herbal products comprising herbal supplements. It also provides beauty products, such as age-defying and hydrating cleansers, creams, lotions, serums, and toners; and lifestyle products, which include weight management and energy enhancing supplements, as well as topical gels. In addition, the company offers home appliances; and daily products, such as oral care, hair care, and body care. It sells its products directly to consumers, as well as through an e-commerce retail platform in the United States, Canada, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Peru, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Europe. The company was formerly known as Florida Institute of Massage Therapy, Inc. and changed its name to Natural Health Trends Corp. in June 1993. Natural Health Trends Corp. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.