Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Down 5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s share price was down 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $202.00 to $183.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Avis Budget Group traded as low as $100.13 and last traded at $100.13. Approximately 410,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 822,222 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.35.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Avis Budget Group from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Avis Budget Group from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,363,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $460,321,000 after buying an additional 22,518 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 70.4% during the first quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,534,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,964,000 after purchasing an additional 634,040 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,458,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $384,020,000 after acquiring an additional 16,655 shares during the last quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $150,486,000 after acquiring an additional 117,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 622,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,952,000 after purchasing an additional 3,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Stock Down 3.2 %

The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 2.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.51.

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

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.