Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $59.38.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Root in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Root from $84.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Root from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Root to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Root from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Root

In related news, Director Julie Szudarek sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.33, for a total value of $192,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,445,238.99. The trade was a 11.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 75,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.21, for a total value of $6,158,885.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,500,719.47. This represents a 63.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 246,905 shares of company stock worth $20,440,479 in the last 90 days. 11.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROOT. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Root during the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Root by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 20,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Root in the third quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Root by 361.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 10,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Root during the third quarter worth approximately $288,000. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Root Trading Up 2.2 %

ROOT stock opened at $82.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -67.13 and a beta of 2.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.49. Root has a 52 week low of $7.22 and a 52 week high of $118.15.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by $1.96. The company had revenue of $305.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.77 million. Root had a negative return on equity of 9.81% and a negative net margin of 1.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 165.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($3.16) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Root will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Root Company Profile

Root, Inc provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company offers automobile, homeowners, and renters insurance products. It operates a direct-to-consumer model; and serves customers primarily through mobile applications, as well as through its website. The company's direct distribution channels also cover digital, media, and referral channels, as well as distribution partners and agencies.