Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Root, Inc. $ROOT

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Root by 66.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 679,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,699,000 after buying an additional 271,097 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Root by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 529,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,664,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Root by 5,575.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 256,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,266,000 after purchasing an additional 252,267 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Root in the first quarter valued at about $30,786,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Root during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $20,423,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Root Price Performance

Shares of ROOT opened at $88.07 on Thursday. Root, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.48 and a 52 week high of $181.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61 and a beta of 2.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.43 and a 200-day moving average of $110.73.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. Root had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 3.80%.The business had revenue of $387.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Root news, insider Mahtiyar Bonakdarpour sold 5,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.74, for a total transaction of $516,005.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 274,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,609,041.24. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alexander E. Timm sold 10,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $965,325.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 157,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,020,642.24. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROOT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Root from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Root from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Root in a report on Monday, August 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Root has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.80.

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.