Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Price Target to $95.00

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) had its target price decreased by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $104.00 to $95.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 112.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Root from $90.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Root from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Root has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.00.

Root Price Performance

Shares of ROOT traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.63. 71,889 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 329,000. The company has a market capitalization of $694.37 million, a PE ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 2.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.07. Root has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $162.99.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $397.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.57 million. Root had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 2.58%.The company’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Root will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Root

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROOT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Root during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Root by 511.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Root during the third quarter valued at about $144,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Root by 237.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in Root during the third quarter valued at about $194,000. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Root Company 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.