Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Citizens from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.50 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Trading Down 2.3%

CIA stock opened at $3.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.16. Citizens has a 12 month low of $3.56 and a 12 month high of $6.54. The company has a market cap of $209.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.48.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Citizens will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Citizens

In other Citizens news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,945.10. This trade represents a 3.18% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CIA. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Citizens by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 5,746 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Citizens by 8.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 18,244 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Citizens by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 39,301 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 8,721 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Citizens by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 473,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after acquiring an additional 21,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Citizens by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 70,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 4,420 shares during the period. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens

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.