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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on Avis Budget Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.75.

Avis Budget Group Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAR traded down $2.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $89.77. 192,708 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 707,864. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 2.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.27. Avis Budget Group has a 12-month low of $65.73 and a 12-month high of $195.05.

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

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAR. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Avis Budget Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $263,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Avis Budget Group during the third quarter worth about $333,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Avis Budget Group by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 200,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,571,000 after purchasing an additional 46,922 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Avis Budget Group during the 3rd quarter worth $685,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Avis Budget Group by 1,858.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 90,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,883,000 after buying an additional 85,405 shares during the period. 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.