ROOT Stock Surges 109% YTD, Drops 16% From 52-Week High: Time to Buy?

Shares of ROOT Inc. ROOT have rallied 109.1% year to date, outperforming the industry’s 14% growth, the Finance sector’s rise of 0.4% and the S&P 500 composite’s decline of 6.4%.

However, the stock is trading 16% lower than its 52-week high of $181.14.

ROOT, a provider of automobile and renters insurance products, envisions being the largest and most profitable company in the industry.

ROOT Outperforms Industry, Sector & S&P 500 YTD

Shares of Lemonade LMND have lost 19.5% while those of EverQuote EVER have gained 16.2% year to date.

Lemonade’s growth strategy involves acquiring profitable new businesses and increasingly focusing on the car insurance business, thus improving operational efficiencies. It believes the car insurance business will become a major growth engine for the company.  As it aims for diversification, Lemonade offers insurance products that include renters, homeowners, pet and life insurance.

Lemonade wants to grow its business tenfold in the near future. It is focusing more on technology and AI for structural and competitive advantage. It intends to grow the business while scaling operations and thus targets in-force premium growth of 28% in 2025.

EverQuote, an online insurance marketplace, believes it is well-positioned to benefit from the normalization of auto insurance carrier demand, given auto carrier recovery. It also remains focused on rapidly expanding into new verticals. 

EverQuote expects to benefit from the shift to online insurance sales. Increasing consumer traffic, higher quote request volume and innovative advertiser products and services should help EverQuote achieve its targeted revenues between $155 million and $160 million in the first quarter of 2025.

ROOT Trades Above 50-Day Moving Average

ROOT shares are trading well above the 50-day moving average, indicating a bullish trend. 

ROOT’s Price Movement vs. 50-Day Moving Average

Average Target Price for ROOT Suggests Downside

Based on short-term price targets offered by five analysts, the Zacks average price target is $117.20 per share. The average suggests a 21.4% downside from the last closing price.

Factors Favoring ROOT

ROOT’s growth strategy emphasizes geographic expansion, diversification of distribution channels and targeted investments in high-return opportunities, leading to a consistent increase in policies in force.

Expansion across the automotive, financial services and agent sub-channels has fueled growth within the Partnership channel, while prudent investments in customer acquisition continue to strengthen the Direct channel.

Disciplined management of fixed expenses and strategic marketing investments are expected to drive further margin improvement. The planned refinancing of the debt facility with BlackRock in October 2024 is anticipated to reduce interest expenses by 50% in 2025, supporting continued net margin enhancement.

Its net margin has shown commendable improvement, expanding 15350 basis points in the last three years. In fact, 2024 marked the company's first year of profitability. 

Additionally, the insurer has effectively maintained its gross loss ratio below the long-term target range of 60–65%, enabling selective rate reductions while preserving targeted returns.

In tandem with the industry that is undergoing technological advancement, ROOT has been focusing on utilizing telematics and data-driven pricing models to accelerate growth. 

ROOT Shares Seem Expensive

The stock is overvalued compared with its industry. It is currently trading at a price-to-book multiple of 11.12, higher than the industry average of 1.63.

In fact, Lemonade and EverQuote are also trading at a premium to the industry.

ROOT’s Return on Capital

Return on equity (ROE) in the trailing 12 months was 16.3%, outperforming the industry average of 8.3%. ROE, a profitability measure, reflects how effectively a company is utilizing its shareholders’ funds. It is noteworthy that ROOT has been generating improved ROE.
 

The same holds true for return on invested capital (ROIC), which has been improving over time. This reflects ROOT’s efficiency in utilizing funds to generate income. ROIC in the trailing 12 months was 10.6%, higher than the industry average of 6.4%.

Analysts’ Optimism Instills Confidence in ROOT

The consensus estimate for 2025 and 2026 earnings has moved 63.1% and 35.4% north in the past 30 days, respectively, reflecting investor optimism.

However, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 implies an 89.6% year-over-year plunge, while the same for 2026 suggests a 388.9% upsurge. The company has a Growth Score of A.

What to Do With ROOT Shares Now?

The insurer has enhanced operational efficiency by boosting investments in pricing and underwriting technology. ROOT plans to continue on this path. Technological innovation has been a significant contributor to the insurer’s growth. It also has a robust reinsurance policy in place to help manage losses and uphold profitability.

Despite its premium valuation, investors can add this Zack Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock for high returns on their investments. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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