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Avis Budget Group (CAR) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Avis Budget Group (CAR - Free Report) closed at $269.01, marking a +0.43% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.43%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.02%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.32%.

Heading into today, shares of the car rental company had gained 79.14% over the past month, outpacing the Business Services sector's gain of 3.91% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.65% in that time.

Avis Budget Group will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.42, up 843.48% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.18 billion, up 59.09% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $22.41 per share and revenue of $10.48 billion, which would represent changes of -0.36% and +12.57%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Avis Budget Group. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.7% higher. Avis Budget Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Avis Budget Group is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 11.95. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.88, so we one might conclude that Avis Budget Group is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that CAR currently has a PEG ratio of 0.62. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CAR's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.02 as of yesterday's close.

The Business - Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 241, which puts it in the bottom 6% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow CAR in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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