Financial Analysis: Natural Alternatives International (NASDAQ:NAII) vs. Unilever (NYSE:UL)

Unilever (NYSE:UL) and Natural Alternatives International (NASDAQ:NAII) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

9.7% of Unilever shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.4% of Natural Alternatives International shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Unilever shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.8% of Natural Alternatives International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Unilever and Natural Alternatives International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unilever	N/A	N/A	N/A
Natural Alternatives International	-10.13%	-12.21%	-5.30%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Unilever and Natural Alternatives International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unilever	2	6	3	2	2.38
Natural Alternatives International	1	0	0	0	1.00

Unilever presently has a consensus target price of $65.55, suggesting a potential upside of 3.17%. Given Unilever’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Unilever is more favorable than Natural Alternatives International.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Unilever and Natural Alternatives International”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unilever	$57.13 billion	2.40	$10.71 billion	N/A	N/A
Natural Alternatives International	$129.86 million	0.11	-$13.57 million	($2.39)	-0.96

Unilever has higher revenue and earnings than Natural Alternatives International.

Volatility and Risk

Unilever has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natural Alternatives International has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Unilever beats Natural Alternatives International on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Unilever

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through five segments: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The Beauty & Wellbeing segment engages in the sale of hair care products, such as shampoo, conditioner, and styling; skin care products including face, hand, and body moisturizer; and prestige beauty and health & wellbeing products consist of the vitamins, minerals, and supplements. The Personal Care segment offers skin cleansing products comprising soap and shower; deodorants; and oral care products, such as toothpaste, toothbrush, and mouthwash products. The Home Care segment is involved in the sale of fabric care products, including washing powders and liquids, and rinse conditioners; and fabric enhancers, and home and hygiene products. The Nutrition segment provides dressings products, such as mayonnaise and ketchup; sells scratch cooking aids consist of soups, bouillons, and seasonings; plant-based meat; beverages; and functional nutrition products, including Horlicks and Boost, as well as tea products. The Ice Cream segment offers ice cream products including in-home and out-of-home ice creams. The company provides its products under the AXE, Ben & Jerry's, Cif, Clear, Closeup, Comfort, Cornetto, Dermalogica, Domestos, Dove, Dove Men+Care, Hellmann's, Horlicks, Knorr, LUX, Lifebuoy, Liquid I.V., Magnum, Nutrafol, OMO, Paula's Choice, Pepsodent, Pond's, Rexona, Rexona, Sunlight, Sunsilk, Surf, TRESemmé, Vaseline, Wall's, Breyers, and Yasso brand names. Unilever PLC was founded in 1860 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Natural Alternatives International

Natural Alternatives International, Inc. engages in formulating, manufacturing, and marketing nutritional supplements in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Private-Label Contract Manufacturing, and Patent and Trademark Licensing. It offers private-label contract manufacturing services to companies that market and distribute vitamins, minerals, herbal, and other nutritional supplements, as well as other health care products. The company also provides strategic partnering services, such as customized product formulation, clinical study design and support, manufacturing, marketing support, international regulatory and label law compliance, international product registration, packaging in multiple formats and labeling design, scientific research, proprietary ingredients, customer-specific nutritional product formulation, product testing and evaluation, marketing management, packaging and delivery system design, regulatory review, and international product registration assistance. In addition, it sells beta-alanine ingredient under the CarnoSyn and SR CarnoSyn names. The company manufactures products in various forms, including capsules, tablets, chewable wafers, and powders. Its private-label contract manufacturing customers include companies that market nutritional supplements through direct sales marketing channels, direct to consumer e-commerce channels, and retail stores. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.