Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Shares Gap Up to $94.75

Shares of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $94.75, but opened at $110.27. Avis Budget Group shares last traded at $112.93, with a volume of 458,359 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avis Budget Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $111.63 and a 200 day moving average of $150.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 2.28.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 729.43% and a net margin of 10.05%. The company had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 13.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avis Budget Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Avis Budget Group by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in Avis Budget Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,695,000. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Avis Budget Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,172,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its stake in Avis Budget Group by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 11,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

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.