Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Shares Down 3.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) dropped 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after TD Cowen downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The company traded as low as $55.26 and last traded at $55.26. Approximately 98,480 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 302,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.41.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Root from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Root from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Root from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Root from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Root

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Root by 780.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 220,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,949,000 after purchasing an additional 195,725 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Root by 372.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 228,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,474,000 after buying an additional 180,289 shares in the last quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Root by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 654,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,257,000 after buying an additional 157,654 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Root by 132.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 170,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,313,000 after acquiring an additional 97,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Root Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.17. The firm has a market cap of $864.19 million, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 2.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.66. Root had a return on equity of 19.72% and a net margin of 3.78%.The firm had revenue of $389.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Root Company 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.