Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.40.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Root from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Root in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Institutional Trading of Root

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROOT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Root by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,376,000 after purchasing an additional 74,427 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Root by 25.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 724,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,854,000 after buying an additional 149,064 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Root by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 654,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,257,000 after buying an additional 157,654 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Root by 54.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 357,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,708,000 after buying an additional 126,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Root by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,466,000 after buying an additional 12,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Root Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of ROOT opened at $48.68 on Thursday. Root has a fifty-two week low of $46.63 and a fifty-two week high of $181.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.25 and a 200 day moving average of $77.93. The firm has a market cap of $755.03 million, a P/E ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 2.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.28. Root had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The firm had revenue of $397.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Root will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

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.