Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Up 6.1% in March

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,290,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 837,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 9.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

CAR opened at $108.47 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.37. Avis Budget Group has a twelve month low of $99.60 and a twelve month high of $244.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 2.22.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $7.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.15 by $2.95. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 13.59% and a negative return on equity of 696.69%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 15.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CAR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $234.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAR. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Avis Budget Group during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 26,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 246.2% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 6,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 4,754 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems acquired a new position in Avis Budget Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,369,000. Institutional investors 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.