Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NATR): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

Is Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR) going to take off soon? Money managers are in a bullish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions inched up by 1 lately.

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Now, it’s important to take a look at the recent action encompassing Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR).

How have hedgies been trading Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 17% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Prescott Group Capital Management, managed by Phil Frohlich, holds the biggest position in Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR). Prescott Group Capital Management has a $27 million position in the stock, comprising 7% of its 13F portfolio. On Prescott Group Capital Management’s heels is Wynnefield Capital, managed by Nelson Obus, which held a $21.1 million position; the fund has 7.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Consequently, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, created the largest position in Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR). Two Sigma Advisors had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Insider trading activity in Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR)

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR). These stocks are Natural Alternatives International, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAII), Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PBH), Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUXL), USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA), and Lifevantage Corporation (NASDAQ:LFVN). This group of stocks belong to the drug related products industry and their market caps are similar to NATR’s market cap.

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With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Nature’s Sunshine Prod. (NASDAQ:NATR) is an important part of this process.

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