Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) Short Interest Up 34.5% in February

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,780,000 shares, an increase of 34.5% from the February 13th total of 2,810,000 shares. Currently, 11.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 693,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CAR shares. Northcoast Research cut Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Avis Budget Group from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.75.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of CAR stock opened at $63.04 on Monday. Avis Budget Group has a twelve month low of $54.03 and a twelve month high of $132.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.22 and a beta of 2.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $84.48 and its 200 day moving average is $86.76.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.27. Avis Budget Group had a negative return on equity of 14.74% and a negative net margin of 15.45%. Equities research analysts expect that Avis Budget Group will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avis Budget Group

In other news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $62,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,725. This represents a 16.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 52.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 200,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,571,000 after purchasing an additional 46,922 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 672,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,880,000 after purchasing an additional 16,221 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 123.8% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 22,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 12,580 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Avis Budget Group by 10.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 185,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,274,000 after purchasing an additional 17,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 1,858.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 90,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,883,000 after purchasing an additional 85,405 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 engages in the provision of vehicle sharing and rental services. It operates through the following segments: Americas, International, and Corporate and Other. The Americas segment includes the vehicle rental and car sharing operations in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.