Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Price Target Raised to $58.00

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.70% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ROOT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Root from $90.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. 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, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.60.

Root Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROOT traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.60. The stock had a trading volume of 362,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $896.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68 and a beta of 2.95. Root has a twelve month low of $40.91 and a twelve month high of $162.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.94.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $1.25. Root had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The firm had revenue of $393.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $398.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Root will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Key Headlines Impacting Root

Here are the key news stories impacting Root this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly EPS materially beat expectations — Root reported $2.09 GAAP EPS vs. a $0.84 consensus, driven by mix and underwriting improvements; this beat is the primary bullish catalyst for the stock today. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Refinancing lowers cost of capital — Root secured a new $200 million senior secured term loan, refinancing existing debt and improving its debt profile, which should reduce interest expense and financial risk. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized share repurchase — Root approved up to $75 million to buy back Class A common stock, a direct shareholder-return action that often supports the share price and offsets dilution. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings disclosure and investor materials available — The company posted its Q1 shareholder letter and call materials; useful for digging into loss ratios, unit economics, and cash flow detail but not an immediate price mover on its own. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Third?party comparative analysis published — An RLI vs. Root comparison piece is available for relative valuation/peer context but is unlikely to move ROOT by itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue marginally missed consensus — Q1 revenue was $393.5M vs. $398.2M expected, a slight miss that tempers the EPS beat and will draw investor attention to top?line sustainability. Read More.

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.