Herbalife (NYSE:HLF – Get Free Report) and Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN – Get Free Report) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
35.3% of Lifevantage shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Herbalife shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.0% of Lifevantage 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.
Dividends
Herbalife pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.7%. Lifevantage pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Herbalife pays out 77.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lifevantage pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lifevantage has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Herbalife | 3.16% | -43.90% | 7.89% |
| Lifevantage | 2.94% | 23.89% | 12.47% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Herbalife and Lifevantage”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Herbalife | $5.20 billion | 0.25 | $228.30 million | $1.55 | 7.98 |
| Lifevantage | $228.53 million | 0.36 | $9.81 million | $0.45 | 14.60 |
Herbalife has higher revenue and earnings than Lifevantage. Herbalife is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lifevantage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Herbalife has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lifevantage has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Herbalife and Lifevantage, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Herbalife | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2.43 |
| Lifevantage | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Herbalife currently has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.51%. Lifevantage has a consensus price target of $5.00, suggesting a potential downside of 23.90%. Given Herbalife’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Herbalife is more favorable than Lifevantage.
Summary
Herbalife beats Lifevantage on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Herbalife
Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotional items. The company also provides weight management products, including meal replacement products, protein shakes, drink mixes, weight loss supplements, healthy snacks, and metabolism boosting teas; targeted nutrition products, which comprise functional beverages, and dietary and nutritional supplements that contain herbs, vitamins, minerals, and other natural ingredients; outer nutrition products, such as facial skin, body, and hair care products; and energy, sports, and fitness products, including N-R-G tea and energy drink products. In addition, it offers literature, promotional, and other materials that comprise start-up kits, sales tools, and educational materials. The company sells its products through sales representatives, independent service providers, and company-operated retail platforms. Herbalife Ltd. was formerly known as Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. and changed its name to Herbalife Ltd. in April 2023. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
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.
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