Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) Short Interest Down 11.5% in August

Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,440,000 shares, a decline of 11.5% from the July 31st total of 15,190,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Coty Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE COTY traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $9.38. 3,849,761 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,896,872. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.73 and a 200 day moving average of $10.76. Coty has a twelve month low of $8.79 and a twelve month high of $13.30. The company has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Coty (NYSE:COTY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Coty had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Coty will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coty

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Coty in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,193,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Coty by 789.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,582,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,932,000 after buying an additional 4,954,362 shares in the last quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP bought a new position in Coty during the 4th quarter valued at $24,803,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Coty by 733.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prevatt Capital Ltd bought a new position in Coty during the 4th quarter valued at $19,251,000. 42.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on COTY shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Coty from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Coty from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Coty from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Coty from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Coty in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.85.

Coty Company Profile

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.