Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong Sell

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Citizens from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Citizens Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of CIA stock opened at $3.99 on Friday. Citizens has a twelve month low of $3.56 and a twelve month high of $6.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.31. The stock has a market cap of $223.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 0.48.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.06). Citizens had a return on equity of 4.73% and a net margin of 4.55%.The firm had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens

In other Citizens news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.65 per share, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,945.10. This trade represents a 3.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders acquired 27,376 shares of company stock worth $112,590. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens by 142.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 117,502 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens by 8.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 157,169 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 11,853 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens by 133.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 169,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 96,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens by 118.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 558,840 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Company Profile

Citizens, Inc (NYSE:CIA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Citizens Bank of Northern Arkansas, the company provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, small businesses and corporate clients across Northern and Central Arkansas.

Citizens offers a range of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside lending solutions such as residential mortgages, commercial real estate loans and consumer installment loans.