Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $40.91 and last traded at $44.9650, with a volume of 269274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROOT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Root from $90.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Root from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Root in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.80.

Root Stock Up 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $697.03 million, a P/E ratio of 18.83 and a beta of 2.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.47.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $397.00 million for 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Root

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Root by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,376,000 after buying an additional 74,427 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Root by 25.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 724,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,854,000 after purchasing an additional 149,064 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Root by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 654,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,257,000 after purchasing an additional 157,654 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Root by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,466,000 after buying an additional 12,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Root by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 258,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,647,000 after buying an additional 12,321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

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.