Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Up 8.1% in June

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 3,080,000 shares. Currently, 9.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 715,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Avis Budget Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAR traded up $2.08 on Tuesday, reaching $103.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 181,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,344. Avis Budget Group has a 1-year low of $93.53 and a 1-year high of $244.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.49.

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). The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 480.48% and a net margin of 10.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avis Budget Group will post 12.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 94.1% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 119.2% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 15,550.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 313 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Avis Budget Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 55.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CAR shares. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Avis Budget Group from $145.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered Avis Budget Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Northcoast Research raised Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Avis Budget Group from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.57.

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.