Root, Inc. $ROOT Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) by 49.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,050 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,422 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Root were worth $3,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Root by 511.7% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Root during the third quarter valued at $144,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Root by 237.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in shares of Root during the third quarter worth $194,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Root by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Root Stock Down 16.2%

Root stock opened at $50.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $799.57 million, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 2.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Root, Inc. has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $119.50.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $389.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.14 million. Root had a net margin of 3.78% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Root, Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Root News

Here are the key news stories impacting Root this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Root reported strong profitability in the second quarter, with earnings per share exceeding analyst expectations. Profit increased approximately 15%, supported by pricing discipline, improved underwriting margins and higher EBITDA. Root earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized continued operating discipline and profitability, while maintaining a goal of reaching a national insurance footprint by the end of 2027. Root growth outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods retained an “outperform” rating, indicating it still sees substantial long-term upside for ROOT even after reducing its price target to $80 from $95. Analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings release highlighted the company’s quarterly results and shareholder materials, with investors looking to management commentary for further details on underwriting performance and expansion plans. Root second-quarter results
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue came in below consensus estimates, despite year-over-year growth and an EPS beat. The revenue shortfall appears to have outweighed the profitability improvement in the market’s initial reaction. Root second-quarter earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Root expects policies in force to be relatively flat year over year in 2026, raising concerns that near-term customer and premium growth may remain limited. Analysts also cite ROOT’s premium valuation and generally muted sentiment as reasons for caution. Zacks ROOT post-earnings analysis

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ROOT. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Root and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Root from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Root from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. 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.com, Root presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.25.

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.