Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

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

Root Trading Up 0.8%

ROOT stock opened at $76.47 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.59. Root has a fifty-two week low of $68.08 and a fifty-two week high of $181.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 2.70.

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

Institutional Trading of Root

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Root during the third quarter worth $50,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Root by 511.7% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Root by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Root in the 3rd quarter valued at about $144,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Root by 237.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

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.