Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Transactions at Coty

In other news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 30,000 shares of Coty stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total transaction of $381,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,524,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total transaction of $381,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,524,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 in the company, valued at $2,134,973.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coty

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Coty by 123.3% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,862,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,598,000 after acquiring an additional 9,311,527 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Coty by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 46,632,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $419,223,000 after purchasing an additional 7,760,564 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Coty during the 4th quarter worth about $67,193,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Coty by 119.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,312,124 shares of the company's stock worth $74,726,000 after purchasing an additional 4,525,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Coty by 12.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,281,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,920,000 after buying an additional 4,245,039 shares during the period. 42.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coty Price Performance

Shares of COTY stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,141,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,464,290. Coty has a twelve month low of $9.02 and a twelve month high of $13.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.05 and a 200-day moving average of $11.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.82.

Coty (NYSE:COTY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Coty had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 11.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Coty will post 0.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COTY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Coty from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Coty in a research report on Friday, February 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 target price on shares of Coty in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Coty from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Coty from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.21.

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.

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