Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Price Target to $95.00

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $104.00 to $95.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 112.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ROOT. Zacks Research upgraded Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Root from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Root from $90.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.00.

Root Stock Performance

ROOT stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.63. 71,889 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 329,000. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Root has a 1-year low of $40.91 and a 1-year high of $162.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.07. The firm has a market cap of $694.37 million, a PE ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 2.90.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.28. Root had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 2.58%.The company had revenue of $397.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Root will post -0.08 EPS 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 ROOT. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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. boosted its stake in shares of Root by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Root by 389.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,699,000 after acquiring an additional 22,997 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Root by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Root by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 15,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 3,287 shares in the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is 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.