Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ROOT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Root from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.80.

Root Stock Performance

Root stock opened at $79.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Root has a 1-year low of $68.08 and a 1-year high of $181.14.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $387.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.06 million. Root had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Root will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Root

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROOT. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Root in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,829,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Root by 372.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 228,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,474,000 after acquiring an additional 180,289 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Root by 25.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 724,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,854,000 after purchasing an additional 149,064 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Root by 54.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 357,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,708,000 after purchasing an additional 126,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Root during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,079,000. 59.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Root Company Profile

Root, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker ROOT, is a Columbus, Ohio–based insurance company that leverages mobile technology and data analytics to offer personalized auto insurance policies. Founded in 2015 by Alex Timm and Dan Manges, Root set out to transform traditional underwriting by focusing on individual driving behavior rather than broad demographic factors.

The company’s core product is usage-based auto insurance, delivered through a smartphone app that monitors driving patterns such as speed, braking and phone usage behind the wheel.