Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $125.80.

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROOT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Root from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a research note on Monday.

Root Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROOT opened at $73.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.82. Root has a 12 month low of $68.08 and a 12 month high of $181.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 2.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Root

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Root in the 3rd quarter valued at $144,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Root during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,742,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Root in the third quarter valued at about $351,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in Root during the third quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased 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 worth $8,350,000 after purchasing an additional 60,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.