Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.13.

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROOT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Root in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Root in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Root from $64.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Root from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Root from $84.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity at Root

In related news, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 75,839 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.21, for a total value of $6,158,885.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,107 shares in the company, valued at $3,500,719.47. The trade was a 63.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Julie Szudarek sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.33, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,445,238.99. The trade was a 11.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 246,905 shares of company stock worth $20,440,479. Company insiders own 11.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Root

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in shares of Root during the 1st quarter valued at $434,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Root in the first quarter valued at about $1,997,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Root in the second quarter valued at about $1,280,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Root by 2,355.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Root by 76.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Root Stock Up 4.4 %

NASDAQ:ROOT opened at $109.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.75. Root has a 52-week low of $7.22 and a 52-week high of $118.15. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of -88.94 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $272.77 million. Root had a negative net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 9.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 165.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($3.16) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Root will post -1.2 EPS for the current fiscal 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.