Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,520,000 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the November 15th total of 2,910,000 shares. Currently, 7.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 685,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Northcoast Research lowered Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.75.

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $19,978,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the second quarter worth about $1,400,000. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 4.5% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 50.2% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 34,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,643,000 after acquiring an additional 11,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 27.6% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CAR traded down $2.42 on Monday, hitting $89.77. 192,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,864. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 2.20. Avis Budget Group has a twelve month low of $65.73 and a twelve month high of $195.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $93.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.27.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $6.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.55 by ($1.90). The firm had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 3.34% and a negative return on equity of 101.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $16.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avis Budget Group will post 3.59 EPS for the current 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.