Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Trading Up 4.6% – Here’s What Happened

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)’s stock price traded up 4.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $52.00 and last traded at $51.98. Approximately 32,061 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 302,769 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ROOT. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Root in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Root from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price target on shares of Root and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Root from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Root presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.25.

Root Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $814.98 million, a P/E ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 2.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.33.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $389.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.14 million. Root had a net margin of 3.78% and a return on equity of 19.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Root, Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Root by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,376,000 after purchasing an additional 74,427 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Root by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 654,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,257,000 after buying an additional 157,654 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Root by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,466,000 after acquiring an additional 12,238 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Root by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 258,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,647,000 after acquiring an additional 12,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Findell Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Root by 291.7% during the fourth quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC now owns 235,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,974,000 after acquiring an additional 175,000 shares in the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.