Reviewing Niagen Bioscience (NASDAQ:NAGE) and Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN)

Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN) and Niagen Bioscience (NASDAQ:NAGE) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lifevantage and Niagen Bioscience”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lifevantage	$228.53 million	0.36	$9.81 million	$0.45	14.62
Niagen Bioscience	$129.42 million	1.87	$17.38 million	$0.21	14.48

Niagen Bioscience has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lifevantage. Niagen Bioscience is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lifevantage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lifevantage and Niagen Bioscience’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lifevantage	2.94%	23.89%	12.47%
Niagen Bioscience	12.39%	17.95%	13.17%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.3% of Lifevantage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.4% of Niagen Bioscience shares are held by institutional investors. 22.0% of Lifevantage shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Niagen Bioscience shares are held 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.

Risk & Volatility

Lifevantage has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Niagen Bioscience has a beta of 2.09, meaning that its stock price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Lifevantage and Niagen Bioscience, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lifevantage	0	2	0	0	2.00
Niagen Bioscience	0	1	3	1	3.00

Lifevantage presently has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential downside of 24.01%. Niagen Bioscience has a consensus target price of $10.33, indicating a potential upside of 239.91%. Given Niagen Bioscience’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Niagen Bioscience is more favorable than Lifevantage.

Summary

Niagen Bioscience beats Lifevantage on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lifevantage

LifeVantage Corporation engages in the identification, research, development, formulation, and sale of advanced nutrigenomic activators, dietary supplements, nootropics, pre- and pro-biotics, weight management, skin and hair care, bath and body, and targeted relief products. It offers Protandim, a dietary supplement; LifeVantage Omega+, a dietary supplement that combines DHA and EPA Omega-3 fatty acids, Omega-7 fatty acids, and vitamin D3; LifeVantage ProBio, a dietary supplement to support gut health; PhysIQ, a weight management system; LifeVantage IC Bright, a supplement to support eye and brain health, reduce eye fatigue and strain, supports cognitive functions, and support normal sleep patterns; Petandim for Dogs, a supplement to combat oxidative stress in dogs; and Axio, a nootropic energy drink mix. The company also provides anti-aging skin care products, including liquid collagen, facial cleansers, perfecting lotions, eye serums, anti-aging creams, hand creams, beauty serum, as well as hair care products, such as invigorating shampoos, nourishing conditioners, and scalp serums under the LifeVantage TrueScience brand name. In addition, it offers bath and body, and targeted relief products, such as body lotion, body wash, body butter, deodorant, soothing balm, and body rub under the TrueScience brand name. It sells its products through its website and network of independent distributors in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Taiwan, Austria, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah.

About Niagen Bioscience

Niagen Bioscience, Inc. is a global bioscience company, which engages in acquiring, developing, and commercializing proprietary-based ingredient technologies. It is pioneering research on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). The company’s patent portfolio includes Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) and other NAD+ precursors, which are commercialized as the flagship ingredient Niagen. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Products, Ingredients, and Analytical Reference Standards and Services. The Consumer Products segment provides finished dietary supplement products that contain the firm’s proprietary ingredients directly to consumers as well as to distributors. The Ingredients segment supplies ingredients as raw materials to the manufacturers of consumer products. The Analytical Reference Standards and Services segment includes supply of phytochemical reference standards and other research and development services. The company was founded by Mark S. Germain and Frank L. Jaksch, Jr. in 1999 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.