Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Up 7.6% in April

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the March 31st total of 3,290,000 shares. Approximately 10.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 882,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Par Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Par Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,959 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $150,486,000 after purchasing an additional 117,600 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 460,000 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $82,657,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 403,279 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $71,305,000 after purchasing an additional 40,314 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Avis Budget Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,892,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 327,275 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $58,013,000 after purchasing an additional 105,867 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CAR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Northcoast Research raised shares of 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAR traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.75. 915,137 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 831,230. Avis Budget Group has a fifty-two week low of $93.53 and a fifty-two week high of $244.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.21. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 2.22.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR - Get Free Report) last issued 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 696.69% and a net margin of 13.59%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Avis Budget Group will post 14.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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