Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Up 8.1% in June

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, an increase of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 3,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 715,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 9.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAR has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. 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. Finally, 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, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 133.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 22,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,789,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 26.9% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group during the first quarter worth $595,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group during the first quarter worth $2,033,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avis Budget Group during the first quarter worth $391,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ CAR traded up $2.08 on Tuesday, hitting $103.36. 181,905 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 767,344. Avis Budget Group has a 1-year low of $93.53 and a 1-year high of $244.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $110.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.21.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.65) by ($0.56). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.41 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 10.05% and a negative return on equity of 480.48%. Avis Budget Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 12.48 earnings per share 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.