Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Lowers Position in Root, Inc. $ROOT

Key Points

• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its Root stake by 50% in the first quarter, selling 22,048 shares and retaining 22,048 shares worth approximately $974,000.
• Other major institutional investors increased their positions, and hedge funds and institutions collectively own 59.82% of Root’s stock.
• Root shares fell 6.7% to $54.15. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an $86 price target, while the company exceeded quarterly EPS expectations but reported revenue slightly below estimates.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund decreased its stake in shares of Root, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROOT - Free Report) by 50.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,048 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,048 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.14% of Root worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 74,427 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Root by 31.7% during the 4th 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 shares of Root by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 310,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,466,000 after purchasing an additional 12,238 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Root by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 258,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,647,000 after purchasing an additional 12,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Findell Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Root by 291.7% during the fourth quarter. Findell Capital Management LLC now owns 235,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,974,000 after purchasing an additional 175,000 shares in the last quarter. 59.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROOT has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Root from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Root from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $50.00 target price on Root and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Root from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Root Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ROOT opened at $54.15 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $56.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.83. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $857.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 2.85. Root, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.91 and a 12-month high of $129.53.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 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 analyst estimates of $398.16 million. Root had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm's revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Root, Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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