Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $52.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Root traded as low as $44.62 and last traded at $45.15, with a volume of 85942 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.98.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ROOT. Wall Street Zen raised Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Root in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Root from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Root has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Root

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC raised its position in Root by 3.0% during the second quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 6,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Root by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Root by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Root by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Root by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 15,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Root Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.68. The company has a market capitalization of $690.40 million, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 2.84.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $397.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.57 million. Root had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 2.58%.Root’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.