Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Coty (NYSE:COTY)

Key Points

• Traders purchased a significant volume of 2,116 call options on Coty, marking a 27% increase from the average daily volume.
• Coty's stock price rose 7.5% to $3.97, but the company reported a loss of ($0.05) EPS for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations.
• Recent analyst ratings have downgraded Coty's target price significantly, with Citigroup lowering it from $6.50 to $4.25 amidst a general "Hold" consensus among analysts.

Coty (NYSE:COTY - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 2,116 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately27% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,667 call options.

Coty Trading Up 7.5%

COTY stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.97. The company had a trading volume of 6,113,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,095,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of -8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 2.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.81 and a 200 day moving average of $5.10. Coty has a 12 month low of $3.67 and a 12 month high of $9.70.

Coty (NYSE:COTY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Coty had a positive return on equity of 5.18% and a negative net margin of 6.24%.Coty's revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Coty will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COTY. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $4.25 target price (down from $6.50) on shares of Coty in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Coty from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Coty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Coty from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Coty from $6.00 to $4.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coty

In related news, CEO Sue Nabi purchased 260,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.92 per share, for a total transaction of $1,019,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 32,127,286 shares in the company, valued at $125,938,961.12. This trade represents a 0.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Priya Srinivasan purchased 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.84 per share, for a total transaction of $115,200.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 37,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,034.56. This represents a 399.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coty

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COTY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coty by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,645,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055,771 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Coty by 0.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,460,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,240,000 after purchasing an additional 267,261 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coty by 10.5% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,346,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,239,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,613 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Coty by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,318,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Coty during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,449,000. 42.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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