Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CAR. Susquehanna cut their price target on Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $117.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

Shares of CAR stock opened at $102.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 2.21. Avis Budget Group has a 1 year low of $93.53 and a 1 year high of $244.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.05.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.05% and a negative return on equity of 480.48%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avis Budget Group will post 12.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAR. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 18.1% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,032 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 12.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 26.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,022,000 after acquiring an additional 8,115 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,458,000 after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 165.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 25,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,595,000 after acquiring an additional 15,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

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.