Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Trading Down 7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)’s stock price traded down 7% during trading on Tuesday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $117.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Avis Budget Group traded as low as $96.11 and last traded at $96.30. 261,505 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 817,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.56.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAR. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 248.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 10.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in Avis Budget Group during the third quarter worth $2,695,000. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Avis Budget Group during the third quarter worth $16,172,000. Finally, K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 37.5% during the third quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 11,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Stock Down 7.8 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $111.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 2.22.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted 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. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 13.59% and a negative return on equity of 696.69%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 14.73 EPS for the current fiscal 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.