Luvu Brands (OTCMKTS:LUVU) & Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC) Head to Head Review

Luvu Brands (OTCMKTS:LUVU) and Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Luvu Brands	-1.49%	-14.33%	-4.08%
Natural Health Trends	-0.29%	-0.40%	-0.24%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

10.1% of Natural Health Trends shares are owned by institutional investors. 45.9% of Luvu Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.6% of Natural Health Trends shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Luvu Brands has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Natural Health Trends has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Luvu Brands and Natural Health Trends”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Luvu Brands	$24.69 million	0.10	-$450,000.00	($0.01)	-3.10
Natural Health Trends	$40.87 million	0.88	$570,000.00	($0.01)	-313.00

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Luvu Brands and Natural Health Trends, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Luvu Brands	0	0	0	0	0.00
Natural Health Trends	1	0	0	0	1.00

Summary

Natural Health Trends beats Luvu Brands on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Luvu Brands

Luvu Brands, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets various consumer lifestyle products worldwide. The company offers sensuality and intimacy products under the Liberator brand; and bed therapy products, which assistive in relieving medical conditions associated with acid reflux, surgery recovery, and chronic pain under the Avana brand. It also provides daybeds, sofas, and beanbags made from virgin and re-purposed polyurethane foam under the Jaxx brand. In addition, the company is involved in the purchase and resale of products to e-merchants, retailers, and e-commerce sites, as well as provision of contract manufacturing and fulfillment services. It markets its products through various websites comprising liberator.com, jaxxliving.com, and avanacomfort.com, as well as through distributors, retailers, and e-tailers across various channels of adult, mass market, drug, and specialty accounts. The company was formerly known as Liberator, Inc. and changed its name to Luvu Brands, Inc. in November 2015. Luvu Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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.