Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Root in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Root from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.40.

Root Stock Down 10.1%

NASDAQ:ROOT opened at $51.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $804.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 2.76. Root has a twelve month low of $51.83 and a twelve month high of $181.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.81.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.28. Root had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The firm had revenue of $397.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Root will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Root

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Root by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Root by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Root in the second quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Root in the second quarter worth $318,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Root during the second quarter worth $422,000. 59.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.