UBS Group AG Lowers Position in Root, Inc. $ROOT

UBS Group AG cut its stake in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) by 39.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,909 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Root were worth $9,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Root by 25.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Root by 41.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 168,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,081,000 after purchasing an additional 48,970 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Root by 185.2% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 93,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 60,579 shares in the last quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Root by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 83,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Root by 4.1% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 66,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Root Price Performance

Shares of Root stock opened at $55.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.03. Root, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.91 and a 52 week high of $162.99. The company has a market capitalization of $876.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 2.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $1.25. Root had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business had revenue of $393.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $398.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Root, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on Root and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Root from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Root presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.20.

About Root

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.