Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Root (NASDAQ:ROOT)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $82.00.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Root in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Root to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Root from $84.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Root from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Root from $64.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.13.

Root Stock Up 3.9 %

ROOT stock opened at $81.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.61 and a beta of 2.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Root has a 52 week low of $7.22 and a 52 week high of $118.15.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by $1.96. Root had a negative net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $305.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($3.16) EPS. Root’s revenue was up 165.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Root will post -1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Root news, major shareholder Meyer Malka sold 50,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.78, for a total transaction of $4,320,304.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102 shares in the company, valued at $8,647.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 11.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Root

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Root by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 1st quarter valued at $293,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 2nd quarter valued at $288,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. 59.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Root

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.