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

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $138.50.

CAR has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $155.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. 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. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research note on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAR opened at $85.90 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.35. Avis Budget Group has a 1 year low of $65.73 and a 1 year high of $204.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 2.14.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.41 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 analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 230.71% and a net margin of 6.58%. Avis Budget Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $11.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Par Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,486,000 after buying an additional 117,600 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in Avis Budget Group by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 690,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,147,000 after acquiring an additional 475,181 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 589,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,644,000 after purchasing an additional 88,279 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 403,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,305,000 after purchasing an additional 40,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 296,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,534,000 after purchasing an additional 46,021 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.