Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,900,000 shares, a growth of 31.5% from the May 15th total of 18,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Coty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Coty from $10.00 to $8.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Coty from $12.00 to $11.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Coty from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Coty from $10.00 to $8.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.17.

In related news, Director Olivier Goudet bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.45 per share, with a total value of $645,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 739,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,767,382.05. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COTY. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Coty by 123.3% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 16,862,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,598,000 after purchasing an additional 9,311,527 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Coty by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 46,632,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,223,000 after acquiring an additional 7,760,564 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 4,525,332 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Coty by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,950,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,208,000 after acquiring an additional 4,092,581 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Coty during the 4th quarter worth about $38,737,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.60% of the company’s stock.

NYSE:COTY opened at $7.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Coty has a 1-year low of $5.90 and a 1-year high of $11.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.60 and a beta of 2.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.58.

Coty (NYSE:COTY – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 9th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Coty had a return on equity of 6.85% and a net margin of 3.93%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Coty will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Coty Company Profile (Get Rating)

Coty Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of beauty products worldwide. The company provides prestige fragrances, skin care, and color cosmetics products through prestige retailers, including perfumeries, department stores, e-retailers, direct-to-consumer websites, and duty-free shops under the Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Cavalli, Chloe, Davidoff, Escada, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Joop!, Kylie Jenner, Lacoste, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Nikos, philosophy, Kim Kardashian West, and Tiffany & Co brands.

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