Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $105.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $205.00 to $175.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Avis Budget Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $155.00 to $146.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $138.50.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CAR opened at $85.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 2.14. Avis Budget Group has a 12 month low of $65.73 and a 12 month high of $204.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.09 and a 200-day moving average of $103.35.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.60 by ($2.19). The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 230.71% and a net margin of 6.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $11.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 7.68 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAR. Par Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 117,600 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 220.9% in the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 690,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,147,000 after buying an additional 475,181 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 17.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 589,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,644,000 after acquiring an additional 88,279 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 403,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,305,000 after acquiring an additional 40,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 296,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,534,000 after acquiring an additional 46,021 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.