Analyzing Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC) and Interparfums (NASDAQ:IPAR)

Interparfums (NASDAQ:IPAR) and Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Interparfums and Natural Health Trends, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Interparfums	0	3	3	1	2.71
Natural Health Trends	1	0	0	0	1.00

Interparfums presently has a consensus target price of $105.20, suggesting a potential upside of 13.57%. Given Interparfums’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Interparfums is more favorable than Natural Health Trends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

55.6% of Interparfums shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.1% of Natural Health Trends shares are held by institutional investors. 43.7% of Interparfums 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Interparfums	$1.49 billion	1.99	$168.39 million	$5.27	17.58
Natural Health Trends	$38.25 million	0.63	-$880,000.00	($0.11)	-25.73

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

Dividends

Interparfums pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Natural Health Trends pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.1%. Interparfums pays out 60.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Natural Health Trends pays out -363.6% 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. Interparfums has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Natural Health Trends is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk & Volatility

Interparfums has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natural Health Trends has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Interparfums and Natural Health Trends’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Interparfums	11.32%	15.47%	10.82%
Natural Health Trends	-3.03%	-4.88%	-2.94%

Summary

Interparfums beats Natural Health Trends on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Interparfums

Inter Parfums, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of fragrances and fragrance related products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, European Based Operations and United States Based Operations. The company offers its fragrance and cosmetic products under the Boucheron, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Lanvin, Moncler, Montblanc, Rochas, S.T. Dupont, Van Cleef & Arpels, Abercrombie & Fitch, Anna Sui, Donna Karan, DKNY, Emanual Ungaro, Ferragamo, Graff, GUESS, Hollister, MCM, Oscar de la Renta, Ungaro, and Roberto Cavalli brands, as well as French Connection, Intimate, and Dunhill, Lacoste names. It sells its products to department stores, perfumeries, specialty stores, duty free shops, and domestic and international wholesalers, and distributors, as well as through e-commerce. The company was formerly known as Jean Philippe Fragrances, Inc. and changed its name to Inter Parfums, Inc. in July 1999. Inter Parfums, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.