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

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) saw 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 trading volume of 693,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CAR. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Northcoast Research cut shares of Avis Budget Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avis Budget Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lynn Krominga sold 1,405 shares of Avis Budget Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $133,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,250. The trade was a 41.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 52.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Avis Budget Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avis Budget Group by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 337 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Avis Budget Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avis Budget Group by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 681 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avis Budget Group by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avis Budget Group Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAR 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’s 50 day moving average is $84.48 and its 200-day moving average is $86.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.22 and a beta of 2.37.

Avis Budget Group (NASDAQ:CAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Avis Budget Group will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Avis Budget Group

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.