Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Up 7.6% in April

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the March 31st total of 3,290,000 shares. Currently, 10.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 882,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAR. Northcoast Research raised Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 94.1% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 209 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 15,550.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group during the 4th quarter worth $79,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 248.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Stock Down 0.7 %

CAR opened at $94.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 2.28. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.21. 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 announced 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 negative return on equity of 696.69% and a net margin of 13.59%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avis Budget Group will post 14.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.