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

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,290,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Approximately 9.6% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 837,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Avis Budget Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Northcoast Research raised Avis Budget Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avis Budget Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $234.00 to $248.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $182.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,363,042 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $460,321,000 after acquiring an additional 22,518 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $298,964,000 after acquiring an additional 634,040 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,458,488 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $384,020,000 after acquiring an additional 16,655 shares during the last quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 16.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 622,685 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $163,952,000 after acquiring an additional 3,626 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company's stock.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

Avis Budget Group stock traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $108.47. 943,416 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 830,389. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $119.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 2.22. Avis Budget Group has a 1 year low of $99.60 and a 1 year high of $244.95.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 696.69% and a net margin of 13.59%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group will post 15.35 earnings per share 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.