Top 10 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Own For 2015

Top 10 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Own For 2015: Avis Budget Group Inc.(CAR)

Avis Budget Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides car and truck rentals, and ancillary services to businesses and consumers worldwide. It supplies rental cars to the premium commercial and leisure segments of the travel industry under the Avis brand; and to the value-conscious segments of the industry under the Budget brand. The company operates or licenses the Avis car rental system that includes approximately 5,200 locations; and operates approximately 2,100 Avis car rental locations in on-airport and local rental markets; and operates or licenses the Budget vehicle rental system comprising approximately 3,050 car rental locations, and operates approximately 1,100 Budget car rental locations. It also operates local and one-way truck rental businesses, and operates a combined fleet of approximately 26,000 trucks, which are rented through a network of approximately 1,850 dealers and 300 company-operated locations in the continental United States serving the consumer and light commercial sectors. In addition, the company engages in the sale and rental of optional products and services, including loss damage waivers; insurance products, such as additional/supplemental liability insurance or personal accident/effects insurance; automobile towing equipment and other moving accessories consisting of hand trucks, furniture pads, and moving supplies; and products for driving convenience, such as where2 GPS navigation units, optional roadside assistance, fuel service options, and electronic toll collection, as well as other ancillary products and services comprising rental of satellite radio units and child safety seats. Its rental fleet comprises approximately 393,000 vehicles. The company was formerly known as Cendant Corporation. Avis Budget Group, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Parsi! ppany, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  How much downside? Jonas cut his price target on Hertz to $19 from $20. With Hertz shares off 1.3% at $30.34 today, that means shares could fall an additional 37%. Shares of Avis Budget Group (CAR) have fallen 1.1% to $67.97.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  The price of renting a car -- often the American traveler's transportation of choice -- has risen substantially in recent times. Ponying Up in Portland An August survey by CheapCarRental.net found that the average daily rate for the cheapest available rental car in many cities was much higher on a year-over-year basis. For example, the most expensive city was Portland, Oregon, with a $111 rate, while in the car manufacturing capital of the country, Detroit, it stood at $90, and in Denver it was $88. Rewinding one year, CheapCarRental's survey had a rate of $86 for Portland, $55 for Detroit and $65 for Denver. The blame can be laid at the feet of the major rental companies. Avis Budget Group (CAR), for example, in its most recently reported quarter, lifted its U.S. rates by around 4 percent, excluding its budget brand Payless and short-term rental subsidiary Zipcar. Such raises seem to be a habit for the company these days -- in the previous quarter, it advanced its U.S. pricing by 2 percent. Given that, it's no surprise that the company's revenue advanced 10 percent on a year-over-year basis to $2.2 billion in that most recent quarter, while net profit grew a robust 28 percent to $74 million. The other big publicly traded auto lender, Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ), saw a nearly 20 percent pop in revenue in its fiscal 2013, with top line rising to $10.8 billion. This, despite a heavy slate of recalls from the industry's big suppliers. So far in August alone, General Motors (GM) has recalled in excess of 380,000 vehicles. Meanwhile, in the same month, Ford (F) began the recall of 83,250 of its cars across several models. Fewer Cars in the! Parking ! Lot Behind the higher bills and fatter profits is consolidation. With fewer competitors, of course, there's less pressure to offer attractive prices. Avis Budget Group gets half its name from the Budget chain, acquired in 2002. Also under its spreading wing are more recent acquisitions Zipcar and another (relatively

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  We believe operational issues can and will be corrected and, therefore, in combination with the highly attractive spin we maintain our Buy rating. Hertz remains in our eyes an attractive investment over the next 12-18 months, but is likely to remain volatile. We recommend buying on the dips; our 12-motnh price target remains $33. We continue to strongly recommend Avis Budget (CAR) and would use any Hertz-related weakness to buy the stock. Industry fundamentals are strong and pricing is sustainable, in our view.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-healthcare-technology-stocks-to-own-for-2015-2.html