Critical Review: Niagen Bioscience (NASDAQ:NAGE) & Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN)

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Niagen Bioscience	$129.08 million	1.87	$17.38 million	$0.18	16.81
Lifevantage	$195.32 million	0.42	$9.81 million	$0.45	14.29

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

Profitability

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

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.4% of Niagen Bioscience shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of Lifevantage shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.0% of Niagen Bioscience shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.0% of Lifevantage shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Niagen Bioscience and Lifevantage, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Niagen Bioscience currently has a consensus price target of $10.33, indicating a potential upside of 241.60%. Lifevantage has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential downside of 22.24%. Given Niagen Bioscience’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly 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 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.

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.