Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $117.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Avis Budget Group stock opened at $115.60 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 2.28. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.65) by ($0.56). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 10.05% and a negative return on equity of 480.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.72 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Avis Budget Group will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,069,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 69,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of 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 worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.