Financial Review: Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC) and Maison Solutions (NASDAQ:MSS)

Natural Health Trends (NASDAQ:NHTC) and Maison Solutions (NASDAQ:MSS) are both small-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natural Health Trends	0.83%	1.09%	0.66%
Maison Solutions	-0.88%	-2.83%	-0.40%

Volatility and Risk

Natural Health Trends has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Maison Solutions has a beta of 5.04, suggesting that its stock price is 404% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.1% of Natural Health Trends shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.4% of Maison Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 13.3% of Natural Health Trends shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 80.5% of Maison Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Natural Health Trends and Maison Solutions, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natural Health Trends	1	0	0	0	1.00
Maison Solutions	1	1	1	0	2.00

Maison Solutions has a consensus price target of $4.25, suggesting a potential upside of 591.28%. Given Maison Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Maison Solutions is more favorable than Natural Health Trends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Natural Health Trends and Maison Solutions”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natural Health Trends	$42.09 million	0.92	$570,000.00	$0.03	112.00
Maison Solutions	$124.22 million	0.10	$1.17 million	($0.04)	-15.37

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

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.

About Maison Solutions

Maison Solutions Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as the specialty grocery retailer in California. The company offers perishable products, such as meat, seafood, vegetables, and fruit; non-perishable products, including grocery products comprising cooking utensils, canned foods, Chinese and Asian seasonings and spices, and snacks, as well as liquor, cigarette, lottery, newspaper, reusable bag, non-food, and health products, and general merchandise, beauty care, pharmacy, fuel, and other items and services in its stores. It also offers its products online. The company was formerly known as Maison International, Inc. and changed its name to Maison Solutions Inc. in September 2021. Maison Solutions Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Monterey Park, California.