First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in Root, Inc. $ROOT

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) by 49.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,050 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,422 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.44% of Root worth $3,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Root by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,376,000 after purchasing an additional 74,427 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 157,654 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Root by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,466,000 after purchasing an additional 12,238 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Root by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 258,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,647,000 after purchasing an additional 12,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Findell Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Root by 291.7% in the fourth quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC now owns 235,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,974,000 after buying an additional 175,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROOT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Root from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Root from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Root from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Root and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.25.

Key Headlines Impacting Root

Here are the key news stories impacting Root this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Root reported strong profitability in the second quarter, with earnings per share exceeding analyst expectations. Profit increased approximately 15%, supported by pricing discipline, improved underwriting margins and higher EBITDA. Root earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized continued operating discipline and profitability, while maintaining a goal of reaching a national insurance footprint by the end of 2027. Root growth outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods retained an “outperform” rating, indicating it still sees substantial long-term upside for ROOT even after reducing its price target to $80 from $95. Analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings release highlighted the company’s quarterly results and shareholder materials, with investors looking to management commentary for further details on underwriting performance and expansion plans. Root second-quarter results
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue came in below consensus estimates, despite year-over-year growth and an EPS beat. The revenue shortfall appears to have outweighed the profitability improvement in the market’s initial reaction. Root second-quarter earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Root expects policies in force to be relatively flat year over year in 2026, raising concerns that near-term customer and premium growth may remain limited. Analysts also cite ROOT’s premium valuation and generally muted sentiment as reasons for caution. Zacks ROOT post-earnings analysis

Root Price Performance

ROOT stock opened at $50.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Root, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.91 and a 52-week high of $119.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.23. The company has a market capitalization of $799.57 million, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 2.89.

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. Root had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 3.78%.The company had revenue of $389.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Root, Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share 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.