Head to Head Comparison: Unicharm (OTCMKTS:UNICY) versus Natural Alternatives International (NASDAQ:NAII)

Natural Alternatives International (NASDAQ:NAII) and Unicharm (OTCMKTS:UNICY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Natural Alternatives International has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unicharm has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Natural Alternatives International and Unicharm”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Natural Alternatives International	$129.86 million	0.11	-$13.57 million	($2.39)	-0.94
Unicharm	$6.32 billion	1.74	$436.93 million	$0.13	24.38

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

32.4% of Natural Alternatives International shares are held by institutional investors. 20.8% of Natural Alternatives International 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Natural Alternatives International and Unicharm, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Natural Alternatives International	1	0	0	0	1.00
Unicharm	0	1	0	1	3.00

Profitability

This table compares Natural Alternatives International and Unicharm’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Natural Alternatives International	-10.13%	-12.21%	-5.30%
Unicharm	6.65%	7.15%	5.25%

Summary

Unicharm beats Natural Alternatives International on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Natural Alternatives International

Natural Alternatives International, Inc. engages in formulating, manufacturing, and marketing nutritional supplements in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Private-Label Contract Manufacturing, and Patent and Trademark Licensing. It offers private-label contract manufacturing services to companies that market and distribute vitamins, minerals, herbal, and other nutritional supplements, as well as other health care products. The company also provides strategic partnering services, such as customized product formulation, clinical study design and support, manufacturing, marketing support, international regulatory and label law compliance, international product registration, packaging in multiple formats and labeling design, scientific research, proprietary ingredients, customer-specific nutritional product formulation, product testing and evaluation, marketing management, packaging and delivery system design, regulatory review, and international product registration assistance. In addition, it sells beta-alanine ingredient under the CarnoSyn and SR CarnoSyn names. The company manufactures products in various forms, including capsules, tablets, chewable wafers, and powders. Its private-label contract manufacturing customers include companies that market nutritional supplements through direct sales marketing channels, direct to consumer e-commerce channels, and retail stores. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

About Unicharm

Unicharm Corporation engages in the manufacturing and sale of wellness, feminine, baby and children, kirei, and pet care products in Japan and internationally. The company's baby and child care products, including disposable diapers and wipes under the Moony, MamyPoko, Oyasumiman, and Torepanman brands; feminine care products comprise napkins, tampons, panty liners, sanitary short, panty liners, and other feminine care products under the Sofy, Center-In, and Unicharm brand names; and wellness care products include napkin-type incontinence pads, pants-type diapers, tape-type diapers, pants-type specialized urine pads, and tape-type specialized urine pads under the Lifree and Charmnap brand. It also provides masks under the Unicharm brand; home care products, including cleaning sheets under the Wave brand name; cosmetic cotton and wet wipes under the Silcot brand; and paper towels under the Cook Up brand name. In addition, the company offers pet care products that include pet foods, excrement cleanup sheets, system toilets, and disposable diapers under the Grand Deli, Best Balance, Physicalife Dog, Silver Plate, Aiken Genki, Manner Wear, Deo Sheet, Silver Spoon, AllWell, Physicalife Cat, Deo Toilet, Deo Sand, Deo Clean, and Neko Genki brands; and deodorizing beads. Further, it is involved in the manufacture and sale of industrial materials related products, etc., as well as food-packaging materials. Unicharm Corporation was incorporated in 1941 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.