Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Citizens from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Citizens from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Citizens in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.50.

Citizens Price Performance

Shares of CIA traded down $0.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $4.12. The stock had a trading volume of 137,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,071. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.83. Citizens has a twelve month low of $3.31 and a twelve month high of $6.54. The firm has a market cap of $230.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75 and a beta of 0.46.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 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 business had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. Analysts forecast that Citizens will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Citizens

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of Citizens stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,945.10. This represents a 3.18% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Philip Harwood purchased 10,000 shares of Citizens stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.80 per share, for a total transaction of $38,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,164.80. This represents a 912.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 27,376 shares of company stock valued at $102,390. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in Citizens in the third quarter valued at about $75,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Citizens by 25.0% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Citizens by 15.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 5,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Citizens by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 18,244 shares during the period. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens

Citizens, Inc (NYSE: CIA) is an insurance holding company focused primarily on life insurance products. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage designed to address final expenses, mortgage protection, income replacement and other long-term financial needs.

Its product offerings have included whole life, term life, universal life and other life insurance policies, as well as related insurance solutions. Citizens serves policyholders in the United States and selected international markets, including countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has historically operated through insurance subsidiaries serving domestic and international customers.