Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. Northcoast Research raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CAR opened at $104.41 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.08 and a 200-day moving average of $134.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 2.26. Avis Budget Group has a 52-week low of $93.53 and a 52-week high of $244.95.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.65) by ($0.56). Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 10.05% and a negative return on equity of 480.48%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group will post 12.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Par Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $150,486,000 after purchasing an additional 117,600 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 13.6% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 460,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,657,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 403,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,305,000 after purchasing an additional 40,314 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the third quarter worth about $62,892,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 327,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,013,000 after purchasing an additional 105,867 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.