Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Trading Up 6.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)’s stock price traded up 6.8% on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $78.00 to $80.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Root traded as high as $88.94 and last traded at $87.39. 122,304 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 290,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.79.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ROOT. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Root from $84.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Root to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Root from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities downgraded Root from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Root in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Root

In other Root news, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 75,839 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $6,158,885.19. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,500,719.47. This trade represents a 63.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Julie Szudarek sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 15,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,445,238.99. This trade represents a 11.76 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 11.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Root

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Root during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,280,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Root by 2,355.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Root by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. Venator Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root during the 2nd quarter worth about $516,000. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Root in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,547,000. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Root Trading Up 5.4 %

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’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -70.10 and a beta of 2.55.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced 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 firm 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 company’s revenue was up 165.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($3.16) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Root, Inc. will post -1.2 earnings per share 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.