Coty (NYSE:COTY) Upgraded to “Buy” at Citigroup

Coty (NYSE:COTY) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $8.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $7.00. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 44.01% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on COTY. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Coty from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Coty from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Coty from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Coty from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $12.50 price target on shares of Coty in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.78.

Coty Price Performance

Shares of COTY opened at $5.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of -555.50, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.71. Coty has a twelve month low of $5.35 and a twelve month high of $12.31.

Coty (NYSE:COTY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.11). Coty had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 6.34%. As a group, research analysts expect that Coty will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COTY. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Coty by 317.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,186 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Coty by 145.0% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,328 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Coty by 124.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coty by 55.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Coty in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. 42.36% of the stock is 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.