Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Update

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,290,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 837,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 9.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 101.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 209 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Avis Budget Group by 15,550.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Avis Budget Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $70,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avis Budget Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America began coverage on Avis Budget Group in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.14.

Avis Budget Group Trading Down 2.8 %

CAR traded down $3.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $108.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 246,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,601. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 2.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.37. Avis Budget Group has a twelve month low of $99.60 and a twelve month high of $244.95.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $7.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group will post 15.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.