Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on ROOT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Root from $90.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.60.

Root Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROOT opened at $56.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.81. Root has a 52-week low of $40.91 and a 52-week high of $162.99. The firm has a market cap of $885.52 million, a P/E ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 2.95.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $1.25. Root had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The company had revenue of $393.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $398.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. Root’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Root will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Root by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,376,000 after acquiring an additional 74,427 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Root by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 724,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,854,000 after purchasing an additional 149,064 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Root by 31.7% during the 4th 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 holdings in shares of Root by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,466,000 after purchasing an additional 12,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Root by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 258,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,647,000 after purchasing an additional 12,321 shares in the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Root

Here are the key news stories impacting Root this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat — Root reported $2.09 EPS vs. $0.84 consensus and revenue up 12.5% YoY; solid profitability metrics and management commentary support the rally. MarketBeat Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Refinancing and share repurchase — Root announced a refinancing that lowers its cost of capital and a $75 million buyback authorization (and separately secured a $200M senior secured term loan), which reduces financing risk and signals management confidence. GlobeNewswire Release
• Positive Sentiment: New term loan and repurchase authorization coverage — reporting on the $200M senior secured term loan led by Huntington and the board’s repurchase plan reinforces the refinancing story. TipRanks: Term Loan & Repurchase
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst action — Wells Fargo raised its price target from $52 to $58 but kept an “equal weight” rating (mixed signal: slightly higher valuation but no upgrade to buy). Benzinga: Wells Fargo PT Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript available — useful for hearing management’s guidance and margin drivers but not new news by itself. Seeking Alpha Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Third‑party comparisons and sector coverage — analyst/compare pieces (e.g., RLI vs. Root) circulated but are background context rather than immediate catalysts. American Banking News Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Unrelated cybersecurity headline mentioning “root access” is not connected to Root, Inc.; investors should treat it as noise. MSN: cPanel Vulnerability

About Root

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.