Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Trading Down 7% on Analyst Downgrade

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s share price dropped 7% during trading on Tuesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $140.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Avis Budget Group traded as low as $96.11 and last traded at $96.30. Approximately 261,505 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 817,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.56.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CAR. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Northcoast Research upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 1,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avis Budget Group Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 2.22.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.65) by ($0.56). Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 696.69% and a net margin of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 14.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.