Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Update

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) saw a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,920,000 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the September 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 599,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Approximately 8.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAR traded down $2.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $79.49. The company had a trading volume of 173,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 711,116. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 2.13. Avis Budget Group has a 12 month low of $65.73 and a 12 month high of $204.77.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($2.19). Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 230.71% and a net margin of 6.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $11.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Avis Budget Group will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake 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 worth $72,147,000 after purchasing an additional 475,181 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $61,644,000 after buying an additional 88,279 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Avis Budget Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $19,978,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 126,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,036,000 after buying an additional 17,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 1,339.3% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 101,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,398,000 after acquiring an additional 94,208 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $155.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna decreased 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.