Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Downgraded by Northcoast Research to Neutral

Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Avis Budget Group from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Avis Budget Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.13.

Avis Budget Group Price Performance

Shares of Avis Budget Group stock opened at $100.94 on Monday. Avis Budget Group has a 1-year low of $65.73 and a 1-year high of $204.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 2.14.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The business services provider reported $6.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.55 by ($1.90). The company had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Avis Budget Group had a net margin of 3.34% and a negative return on equity of 101.41%. Avis Budget Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $16.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 70,663.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 7,773 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Avis Budget Group by 5.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Avis Budget Group by 55.7% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 26,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 9,640 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 103.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.