Wall Street Zen Downgrades Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) to Sell

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

Several other equities analysts have also commented on ROOT. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.60.

Root Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROOT opened at $70.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Root has a 1-year low of $68.08 and a 1-year high of $181.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 2.70.

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

Institutional Trading of Root

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Root by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 6,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Root by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Root by 28.5% during the second 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 lifted its position in shares of Root by 16.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Root by 1.7% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 22,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. 59.82% of the stock is currently 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.