StockNews.com Upgrades Citizens (NYSE:CIA) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Citizens Price Performance

CIA opened at $4.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $216.85 million, a PE ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.60. Citizens has a 1 year low of $1.99 and a 1 year high of $5.95.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). Citizens had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 11.50%. The business had revenue of $63.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.66 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Citizens will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Citizens

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 106,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.89 per share, for a total transaction of $413,662.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,772.07. This trade represents a 590.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Citizens by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 269,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Citizens by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 46,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Citizens by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 36,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citizens by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 427,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,327 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,696 shares in the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Citizens

Citizens, Inc provides life insurance products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Life Insurance and Home Service Insurance. The Life Insurance segment issues ordinary whole life insurance and endowment policies in the United States dollar-denominated amounts to non-U.S.