Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ROOT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Root and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Root presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.60.

Root Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Root stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. Root has a 12-month low of $68.08 and a 12-month high of $181.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $387.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.06 million. Root had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Root will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Root

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Root by 754.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 20,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 18,134 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Root by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Root in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,497,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Root by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 10,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFC Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,791,000. 59.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.