GSA Capital Partners LLP Acquires New Position in Root, Inc. $ROOT

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $820,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned about 0.07% of Root as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROOT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Root by 511.7% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Root by 237.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $194,000. 59.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Root presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.20.

Root Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROOT opened at $57.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $908.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 2.95. Root, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.91 and a 12 month high of $162.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $1.25. The business had revenue of $393.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.16 million. Root had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 19.97%. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. Analysts expect that Root, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Root 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.