Coty (NYSE:COTY) Shares Down 5.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) shares dropped 5.1% during trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $10.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Coty traded as low as $5.82 and last traded at $5.83. Approximately 2,884,451 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 5,861,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.14.

COTY has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Coty in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective on shares of Coty in a report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Coty in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Coty from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Coty from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.28.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coty

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in Coty by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 23,112,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,029,000 after acquiring an additional 79,180 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Coty by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,043,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,696,000 after acquiring an additional 251,964 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Coty by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 8,096,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,646,839 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Coty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,401,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Coty by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 5,929,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,270,000 after acquiring an additional 287,061 shares in the last quarter. 42.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Coty Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.89.

Coty (NYSE:COTY) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.11). Coty had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 9.16%. Analysts expect that Coty Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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.