Are Weight Management Stocks A Good Investment?

#4 Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:NUS)

– Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of December 31): 19

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of December 31): $111.81 Million

The smart money sentiment towards Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:NUS) declined significantly in the final quarter of 2015, as the number of funds with stakes in the company dropped to 19 from 29 quarter-over-quarter. Similarly, the value of hedge funds’ stakes shrank to $111.81 million from $175.95 million quarter-over-quarter. It should be mentioned that Nu Skin Enterprises is not a pure-play weight management company, but the developer of innovative consumer products has a product line that includes weight management and body shaping systems, as well as other anti-aging nutritional solutions and weight management products. Nu Skin Enterprises generated revenue of $2.25 billion in 2015, a 13% year-over-year decrease, partly due to foreign exchange headwinds. Aside from foreign currency fluctuations, the company’s top-line results were impacted by limited-time offer activity in 2014, which boosted revenue significantly during that year, and a lack of new product initiatives in the first half of 2015. The company’s bottom-line figure decreased to $133.0 million in 2015 from $189.2 million in 2014. Nu Skin Enterprises recently released disappointing revenue guidance for 2016, which stipulates revenue in the range of $2.1 billion-to-$2.15 billion versus analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. The stock is priced at 12.6-times expected earnings, below the average ratio for the S&P 500. Shares of Nu Skin Enterprises have lost 35% over the past 52 weeks, after having lost 3% in 2016. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, trimmed its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:NUS) by 28% during the December quarter to 1.37 million shares.

#3 NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI)

– Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of December 31): 23

– Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of December 31): $123.60 Million

There were 23 hedge funds in our database with stakes in NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI) at the end of December, down from 27 registered at the end of the previous quarter. The overall value of hedge fund positions also declined to $123.60 million from $146.86 million during the three-month period. The hedge funds which remained bullish on NutriSystem held almost 20% of the company’s outstanding shares. The provider of weight management products and services has seen its shares decline by 9% since the beginning of 2016. NutriSystem’s revenue is primarily derived from food sales, which includes the sale of food and supplements, as well as the shipping and handling charges billed to customers. Unlike the aforementioned two companies, NutriSystem’s revenue growth has been trending up in the past several years. The company’s revenue for 2015 totaled $462.61 million, an increase from $403.08 million in 2014 and $358.09 million in 2013. The revenue growth in 2015 was mainly attributable to a higher number of new customers, and higher on-program revenue, retail revenue and reactivation revenue. An increase in average selling price in 2015 relative to 2014 also positively impacted the company’s top-line results. Net income reached $26.14 million in 2015, up from $19.31 million in 2014 and $7.37 million in 2013. Shares of NutriSystem are currently trading at 14.9-times expected earnings, also below the forward P/E multiple for the S&P 500 Index. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies reported owning 2.72 million shares of NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI) in its 13F for the December quarter.