Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $148.57.

CAR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Avis Budget Group from $205.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Avis Budget Group stock opened at $91.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.44. Avis Budget Group has a 52 week low of $79.03 and a 52 week high of $233.10.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($2.19). The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 480.48% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $11.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 1,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 5,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 2.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 4,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avis Budget Group Company Profile

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.