National Bank of Canada FI Trims Stake in Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 310,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100,071 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.86% of Avis Budget Group worth $54,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Avis Budget Group by 101.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 209 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Avis Budget Group during the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Avis Budget Group by 733.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 181.5% during the third quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Avis Budget Group in the third quarter worth about $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Avis Budget Group stock traded up $1.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $115.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,058,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 903,108. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.32. Avis Budget Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.53 and a 1 year high of $244.95. The company 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($3.21) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.65) by ($0.56). The business had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avis Budget Group, Inc. will post 13.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CAR. 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 report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Avis Budget Group from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Avis Budget Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $118.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Avis Budget Group from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Avis Budget Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.57.

Avis Budget Group 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.