Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Shares Down 6.7% – What’s Next?

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) was down 6.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $54.39 and last traded at $54.3850. Approximately 89,251 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 326,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ROOT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on Root and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.20.

Root Stock Down 7.1%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.77. The company has a market cap of $857.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 2.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $1.25. Root had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company had revenue of $393.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Root

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROOT. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Root by 122.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Root by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Root by 389.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,699,000 after purchasing an additional 22,997 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Root by 511.7% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Root by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

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.