Root, Inc. $ROOT Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,781 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,200 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 1.54% of Root worth $10,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROOT. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Root by 49.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 68,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,006,000 after acquiring an additional 22,422 shares during the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Root in the first quarter valued at about $1,193,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Root by 122.2% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 25,986 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Root during the 1st quarter worth approximately $332,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Root by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,376,000 after purchasing an additional 74,427 shares during the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Root Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROOT opened at $54.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $857.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 2.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.83. Root, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.91 and a 12-month high of $129.53.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 19.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Root, Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROOT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Root from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Root from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Root in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Root from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Root 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.