INVESTOR ALERT: Kirby McInerney LLP Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against Root, Inc.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on behalf of those who acquired Root, Inc. (“Root” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: ROOT) securities during the period from October 25, 2020 through March 8, 2021 (the “Class Period”). Investors have until May 18, 2021 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Root provides insurance products and services in the U.S. The Company has historically focused on auto insurance and operates a direct-to-consumer model that serves customers primarily through mobile applications, as well as through the Company’s website. Leading up to and following the IPO, Root described itself as an innovator in the personal insurance space with a new data- and technology-driven business model that was ready to disrupt traditional insurance markets and capture disproportionate market share, in part because of the Company’s telematics-driven approach to insurance, i.e., the collection and transmission of vehicle-use data through devices.

On October 5, 2020, Root filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which, after several amendments, was declared effective on October 27, 2020 (the “Registration Statement”). On October 28, 2020, Root conducted the IPO, selling 26.8 million shares of the Company’s Class A common stock to the public at $27.00 per share for total approximate proceeds of $724.43 million. On October 29, 2020, Root filed a prospectus on Form 424B4 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which incorporated and formed part of the Registration Statement (the “Prospectus” and, together with the Registration Statement, the “Offering Documents”). The Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation.

Additionally, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, the Offering Documents and Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Root would foreseeably fail to generate positive cash flow for at least several years following the IPO; (ii) accordingly, the Company would foreseeably require significant cash infusions to meet its cash flow needs; (iii) notwithstanding the Defendants’ touting of Root’s purportedly unique, data-driven advantages, several of the Company’s established industry peers in fact possessed significant competitive advantages over Root with respect to, inter alia, telematics data and data engagement; and (iv) as a result, the Offering Documents and Defendants’ public statements throughout the Class Period were materially false and/or misleading and failed to state information required to be stated therein.

On March 9, 2021, Bank of America (“BofA”) Securities analyst Joshua Shanker (“Shanker”) initiated coverage of Root with an “Underperform” rating on the premise that the Company is unlikely to be cash flow positive until 2027, finding that Root “will require not insignificant cash infusions from the capital markets to bridge its cash flow needs.” Shanker also noted that insurers Progressive, Allstate, and Berkshire Hathaway’s Geico would continue to impede the Company’s profitability, with Progressive and Allstate having a “sizable advantage over Root in terms of amount of [telematics] data as well as engagement with the data” used to price their auto insurance. On this news, Root’s stock price declined by $0.18 per share, or approximately 1.46%, to close at $12.17 per share on March 9, 2021, representing a total decline of approximately 54.93% from the Offering price.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Root securities, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, please contact Thomas W. Elrod of Kirby McInerney at 212-371-6600, by email at [e-mail], or by filling out this contact form, to discuss your rights or interests with respect to these matters without any cost to you.

Kirby McInerney is a New York-based plaintiffs’ law firm concentrating in securities, antitrust, and whistleblower litigation. The firm’s efforts on behalf of shareholders in securities litigation have resulted in recoveries totaling billions of dollars. Additional information about the firm can be found at Kirby McInerney’s website: www.kmllp.com.

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