Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 9.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 837,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $234.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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, reaching $108.80. The stock had a trading volume of 246,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,601. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 2.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $119.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.37. Avis Budget Group has a one year low of $99.60 and a one year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.15 by $2.95. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 13.59% and a negative return on equity of 696.69%. The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avis Budget Group will post 15.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAR. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Avis Budget Group by 101.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 209 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 15,550.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Avis Budget Group in the 1st quarter worth $70,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Avis Budget Group during the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

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.