Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) Short Interest Up 15.5% in March

Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of 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 volume of 3,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Coty from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TheStreet raised shares of Coty from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Coty in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Coty in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Coty from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Coty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.36.

Coty Price Performance

NYSE:COTY traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $10.83. 4,914,183 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,911,508. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.48.

Coty (NYSE:COTY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Coty will post 0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coty

In other Coty news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 90,000 shares of Coty stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.56, for a total value of $1,130,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 169,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,973.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert S. Singer sold 90,000 shares of Coty stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 169,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,973.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the director now owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,524,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COTY. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coty during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Coty in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Coty in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Coty in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Coty by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 2,226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.