Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) by 40.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,466 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Avis Budget Group were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 220.9% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 690,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,147,000 after purchasing an additional 475,181 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $19,978,000. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in Avis Budget Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,452,000. Natixis increased its position in Avis Budget Group by 1,339.3% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 101,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,398,000 after buying an additional 94,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 17.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 589,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,644,000 after acquiring an additional 88,279 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avis Budget Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CAR opened at $78.55 on Thursday. Avis Budget Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.73 and a fifty-two week high of $204.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 2.13.

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 firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 6.58% and a negative return on equity of 230.71%. Avis Budget Group’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $11.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CAR. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $205.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Avis Budget Group from $155.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avis Budget Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.63.

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.