Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by TD Cowen

TD Cowen downgraded shares of Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

ROOT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Root from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $58.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Root from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Root and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Root from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Root from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.25.

Root Stock Down 2.8%

ROOT stock opened at $55.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.17. Root has a fifty-two week low of $40.91 and a fifty-two week high of $104.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $864.19 million, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 2.89.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $389.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.14 million. Root had a return on equity of 19.72% and a net margin of 3.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Root will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Root during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Root by 511.7% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Root in the 3rd quarter valued at $144,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Root by 237.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in Root during the 3rd quarter valued at $194,000. Institutional investors 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.