Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) Upgraded to “Hold” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

CAR has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Avis Budget Group from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price target on Avis Budget Group in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avis Budget Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Avis Budget Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $127.75.

Avis Budget Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Avis Budget Group stock opened at $179.10 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.65. Avis Budget Group has a 12-month low of $85.96 and a 12-month high of $847.70. The company has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.40 and a beta of 1.87.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported ($8.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($6.82) by ($1.19). The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($14.35) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Avis Budget Group will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Pentwater Capital Management L sold 3,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $438.74, for a total transaction of $1,468,462.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,177,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,710,140,854. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward P. Linnen sold 9,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.32, for a total value of $1,728,940.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,915,762.24. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 16,299 shares of company stock valued at $3,836,012 in the last ninety days. 50.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,964,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $380,444,000 after buying an additional 804,814 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,975,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $253,519,000 after buying an additional 545,574 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,290,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $207,142,000 after buying an additional 409,761 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 440.2% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,035,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,195,000 after buying an additional 843,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 713,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $120,554,000 after buying an additional 7,318 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Company Profile

Avis Budget Group, Inc operates as a leading global provider of vehicle rental and mobility solutions. Through its two core brands, Avis® and Budget®, the company offers a broad range of rental options including daily, weekly and monthly car rentals for leisure and business travelers. In addition to traditional airport and off-airport car rental services, Avis Budget Group delivers innovative mobility platforms such as car-sharing programs and connected fleet solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of corporate, government and individual customers.

The company’s roots trace back to Avis Rent a Car, founded in 1946, and Budget Rent a Car, established in 1958.