Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Down 5% on Analyst Downgrade

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) traded down 5% on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $202.00 to $183.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Avis Budget Group traded as low as $100.13 and last traded at $100.13. 410,234 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 822,222 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.35.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $190.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. 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, Avis Budget Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.86.

Institutional Trading of Avis Budget Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,363,042 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $460,321,000 after purchasing an additional 22,518 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 70.4% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,534,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,964,000 after acquiring an additional 634,040 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,458,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $384,020,000 after acquiring an additional 16,655 shares during the period. Par Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $150,486,000 after buying an additional 117,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Avis Budget Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 622,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,952,000 after buying an additional 3,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 2.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.51.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $7.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 15.35 earnings per share for the current 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.