Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

ROOT has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on Root and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Root presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.20.

Root Price Performance

ROOT opened at $53.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $852.45 million, a PE ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 2.87. Root has a 1 year low of $40.91 and a 1 year high of $162.99.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $1.25. The firm had revenue of $393.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.16 million. Root had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 3.58%.Root’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Root will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Root

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Root by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 6,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Root by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Root by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 15,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Root by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Root by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,553,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.