Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Raised to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $130.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $118.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avis Budget Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $234.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com raised Avis Budget Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Northcoast Research raised Avis Budget Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Avis Budget Group in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avis Budget Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $182.57.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAR opened at $121.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 2.22. Avis Budget Group has a 52-week low of $99.60 and a 52-week high of $244.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.05 and a 200 day moving average of $160.23.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $7.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.15 by $2.95. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 696.69% and a net margin of 13.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Avis Budget Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its position in Avis Budget Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 1,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Avis Budget Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Avis Budget Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

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.