Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ROOT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Root from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a report on Friday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Root currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Root Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROOT opened at $76.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.30. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Root has a 52 week low of $68.08 and a 52 week high of $181.14.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Root by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Root by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Root during the first quarter worth about $313,000. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Root in the 2nd quarter valued at about $875,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Root in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

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.