Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) & Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) Critical Contrast

Nature’s Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) and Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Nature’s Sunshine Products has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Estee Lauder Companies has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nature’s Sunshine Products and Estee Lauder Companies”s gross 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	0.46	$19.52 million	$1.01	12.39
Estee Lauder Companies	$15.05 billion	2.68	$182.00 million	$0.49	227.53

Estee Lauder Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Nature’s Sunshine Products. Nature’s Sunshine Products is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Estee Lauder Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Nature’s Sunshine Products and Estee Lauder Companies, 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
Estee Lauder Companies	1	14	11	2	2.50

Nature’s Sunshine Products currently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 99.84%. Estee Lauder Companies has a consensus target price of $109.62, suggesting a potential downside of 1.68%. Given Nature’s Sunshine Products’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Nature’s Sunshine Products is more favorable than Estee Lauder Companies.

Profitability

This table compares Nature’s Sunshine Products and Estee Lauder Companies’ 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%
Estee Lauder Companies	2.41%	26.99%	5.42%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.4% of Nature’s Sunshine Products shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.1% of Estee Lauder Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Nature’s Sunshine Products shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.5% of Estee Lauder Companies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Estee Lauder Companies beats Nature’s Sunshine Products on 9 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 Estee Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools. The company also provides fragrance products in various forms comprising eau de parfum sprays and colognes, as well as lotions, powders, creams, candles, and soaps; and hair care products, including shampoos, conditioners, styling products, treatment, finishing sprays, and hair color products, as well as sells ancillary products and services. It offers its products under the Estée Lauder, Clinique, Origins, M·A·C, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, La Mer, Aveda, Jo Malone London, TOM FORD, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, and The Ordinary brands. The company sells its products through department stores, specialty-multi retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, and salons and spas; freestanding stores; its own and authorized retailer websites; third-party online malls; stores in airports; and duty-free locations. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in New York, New York.