Palisades Investment Partners LLC Makes New $7.31 Million Investment in Root, Inc. $ROOT

Palisades Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 81,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,314,000. Root makes up about 2.9% of Palisades Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Palisades Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.53% of Root as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Root by 754.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 20,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,628,000 after acquiring an additional 18,134 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Root by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,075,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,497,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Root by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 10,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFC Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Root during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,791,000. Institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ROOT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $75.00 target price on Root and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.60.

Root Stock Performance

Shares of Root stock opened at $68.91 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. Root, Inc. has a one year low of $66.16 and a one year high of $181.14. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 2.70.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.08. Root had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $387.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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.