Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Stock Price Down 4.6% – Time to Sell?

Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) shares traded down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $55.12 and last traded at $54.5560. Approximately 64,144 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 313,152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROOT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Root from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.20.

Root Trading Up 7.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $823.00 million, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 2.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.60.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $1.25. The company had revenue of $393.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $398.16 million. Root had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Root, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Root

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROOT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Root by 8.5% in 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. increased its position in shares of Root by 25.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 724,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,854,000 after acquiring an additional 149,064 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 157,654 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Root by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,466,000 after acquiring an additional 12,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Root by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 258,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,647,000 after purchasing an additional 12,321 shares during the period. 59.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.