Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) Short Interest Update

Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,780,000 shares, a growth of 15.5% from the March 15th total of 19,720,000 shares. Approximately 5.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COTY. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Coty in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 target price on shares of Coty in a report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Coty from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Coty in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Coty from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.36.

Coty Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:COTY traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.83. The stock had a trading volume of 4,914,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,911,508. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.82. Coty has a 12-month low of $9.02 and a 12-month high of $13.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.01 and its 200-day moving average is $11.48.

Coty (NYSE:COTY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.05. Coty had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Coty will post 0.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total value of $381,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,524,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total value of $381,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,524,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert S. Singer sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.56, for a total transaction of $1,130,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 169,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,134,973.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COTY. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Coty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Coty in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Coty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Coty in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Coty by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.36% of the company’s stock.

About Coty

Coty Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells beauty products worldwide. It operates through Prestige and Consumer Beauty segments. The company provides fragrance, color cosmetics, and skin and body care products. It offers Prestige segment products primarily through prestige retailers, including perfumeries, department stores, e-retailers, direct-to-consumer websites, and duty-free shops under the Burberry, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Davidoff, Escada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Joop!, Kylie Jenner, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Orveda, philosophy, SKKN BY KIM, and Tiffany & Co brands.