Analyzing Solesence (NASDAQ:SLSN) & Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS)

Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS) and Solesence (NASDAQ:SLSN) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Nu Skin Enterprises and Solesence, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nu Skin Enterprises	0	3	0	0	2.00
Solesence	0	1	0	0	2.00

Nu Skin Enterprises presently has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential downside of 35.47%. Given Nu Skin Enterprises’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Nu Skin Enterprises is more favorable than Solesence.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nu Skin Enterprises and Solesence”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nu Skin Enterprises	$1.73 billion	0.31	-$146.59 million	$2.01	5.40
Solesence	$52.35 million	5.05	$4.24 million	$0.07	53.57

Solesence has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nu Skin Enterprises. Nu Skin Enterprises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Solesence, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Nu Skin Enterprises has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Solesence has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

82.8% of Nu Skin Enterprises shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.2% of Solesence shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Nu Skin Enterprises shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Solesence shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Nu Skin Enterprises and Solesence’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nu Skin Enterprises	6.20%	8.23%	4.05%
Solesence	8.13%	32.99%	9.74%

Summary

Solesence beats Nu Skin Enterprises on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nu Skin Enterprises

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and distribution of various beauty and wellness products worldwide. It offers skin care devices, cosmetics, and other personal care products, including ageLOC LumiSpa and ageLOC LumiSpa iO; and nutricentials skin care products. The company also provides wellness products, such as LifePak nutritional supplements, ageLOC TR90 weight management system, and Beauty Focus Collagen+. In addition, it is involved in the research and product development of skin care products and nutritional supplements. The company sells its products under the Nu Skin, Pharmanex, and ageLOC brands through retail stores, website, digital platforms, and independent direct sellers and marketers, as well as a service center. Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Provo, Utah.

About Solesence

Nanophase Technologies Corporation provides engineered materials, formulation development, and commercial manufacturing with an integrated family of technologies in the United States. It offers surface engineered zinc oxide and titanium dioxide for sunscreens and personal care products; fully formulated cosmetics, sun care, and skin care under the Solésence brand name; and advanced materials products, such as architectural coatings, industrial coatings, abrasion-resistant additives, plastics additives, medical diagnostics, and various surface finishing technologies applications. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Romeoville, Illinois.