Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Northcoast Research currently has $155.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CAR. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $234.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a buy rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. They issued a sell rating and a $164.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $187.43.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

Shares of CAR opened at $122.46 on Monday. Avis Budget Group has a one year low of $99.60 and a one year high of $244.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.65. The stock has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 2.21.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $7.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.15 by $2.95. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.81 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 13.59% and a negative return on equity of 696.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 15.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 33.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 72,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,060,000 after purchasing an additional 18,167 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 165.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 25,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,595,000 after acquiring an additional 15,943 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its position in Avis Budget Group by 274.9% during the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 6,234 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Avis Budget Group by 26.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,022,000 after acquiring an additional 8,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Avis Budget Group by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 190,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,242,000 after acquiring an additional 17,082 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avis Budget Group

Avis Budget Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides car and truck rentals, car sharing, and ancillary products and services to businesses and consumers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It operates the Avis brand, that offers vehicle rental and other mobility solutions to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry; and the Zipcar brand, a car sharing network, as well as the Budget brand, a supplier of vehicle rental and other mobility solutions focused primarily on more value-conscious customers comprising Budget car rental, and Budget Truck, a local, and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses with a fleet of approximately 19,000 vehicles, which are rented through a network of dealer-operated and company-operated locations that serve the light commercial and consumer sectors in the continental United States.