Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

(11)Fair Value Measurements

The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that could be received upon the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Financial assets are marked to bid prices and financial liabilities are marked to offer prices. Fair value measurements do not include transaction costs. A fair value hierarchy is used to prioritize the quality and reliability of the information used to determine fair values of each financial instrument. Categorization within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The fair value hierarchy is defined into the following three categories:

Level 1: Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2: Observable market based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market data.

The following table presents the Company’s hierarchy for its assets, measured at fair value on a recurring basis, as of September 30, 2014:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets		Significant Other Observable Inputs		Significant Unobservable Inputs		Total
Investments available-for-sale
Municipal obligations	$	—	$	202	$	—	$	202
U.S. government security funds	988		—		—		988
Equity securities	630		—		—		630
Investment securities	1,012		—		—		1,012
Total assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis	$	2,630	$	202	$	—	$	2,832

The following table presents the Company’s hierarchy for its assets, measured at fair value on a recurring basis, as of December 31, 2013:

	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets		Significant Other Observable Inputs		Significant Unobservable Inputs		Total
Investments available-for-sale
Municipal obligations	$	—	$	415	$	—	$	415
U.S. government security funds	983		—		—		983
Equity securities	608		—		—		608
Investment securities	971		—		—		971
Total assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis	$	2,562	$	415	$	—	$	2,977

Investments available-for-sale — The majority of the Company’s investment portfolio consists of various securities such as state and municipal obligations, U.S. government security funds, short-term deposits and various equity securities. The Level 1 securities are valued using quoted prices for identical assets in active markets including equity securities and U.S. government treasuries. The Level 2 securities include investments in state and municipal obligations whereby all significant inputs are observable or can be derived from or corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the asset.

Investment securities — The majority of the Company’s trading portfolio consists of various marketable securities that are valued using quoted prices in active markets.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2014, and for the year ended December 31, 2013, there were no fair value measurements using the significant unobservable inputs (Level 3).

The carrying amounts reflected on the consolidated balance sheet for cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and accounts payable approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. The carrying amount reflected in the consolidated balance sheet for long-term debt approximates fair value due to the interest rate on the debt being variable based on current market rates. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, the Company did not have any re-measurements of non-financial assets at fair value on a nonrecurring basis subsequent to their initial recognition.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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