Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Gap Up to $94.75

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $94.75, but opened at $110.27. Avis Budget Group shares last traded at $112.93, with a volume of 458,359 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group Trading Up 1.6 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.53. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 2.28.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.65) by ($0.56). Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 729.43% and a net margin of 10.05%. The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.72 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Avis Budget Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,892,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 1,573.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 362,965 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $64,799,000 after acquiring an additional 341,269 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avis Budget Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,234,000. Par Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,486,000 after acquiring an additional 117,600 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 289,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,047,000 after acquiring an additional 112,073 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is currently 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.