Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,410,000 shares, an increase of 30.5% from the August 31st total of 3,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 971,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 9.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have recently commented on CAR shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Avis Budget Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $184.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $223.00 to $158.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $193.40.
Get Avis Budget Group alerts:Avis Budget Group Stock Performance
Shares of CAR stock opened at $148.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 2.13. Avis Budget Group has a fifty-two week low of $117.21 and a fifty-two week high of $545.11. The business's 50 day moving average price is $167.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.63.
Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $15.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.22 by $3.72. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 477.68% and a net margin of 21.02%. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 36.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avis Budget Group will post 47.02 EPS for the current year.Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Glenn Lurie sold 1,474 shares of Avis Budget Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.94, for a total value of $263,757.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 37.30% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 10,173 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,679,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 79.5% during the first quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 24.8% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 388 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 18.3% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 569 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 9,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,369,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 98.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Avis Budget Group
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Avis Budget Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides car and truck rentals, car sharing, and ancillary products and services to businesses and consumers. It operates the Avis brand, that offers vehicle rental and other mobility solutions to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry; the Budget Truck brand, a local, and one-way truck and cargo van rental businesses with a fleet of approximately 20,000 vehicles, which are rented through a network of approximately 465 dealer-operated and 385 company-operated locations that serve the consumer and light commercial sectors in the continental United States; and the Zipcar brand, a car sharing network.
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