Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Citizens in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Citizens Stock Performance

NYSE:CIA opened at $5.03 on Friday. Citizens has a 1 year low of $2.90 and a 1 year high of $6.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 0.43.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $72.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.89 million. Citizens had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 7.23%. On average, analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.81 per share, with a total value of $48,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 208,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,953.30. This trade represents a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new stake in Citizens in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Citizens by 3,686.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 14,157 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Citizens by 92.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 5,141 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens in the second quarter valued at about $63,000. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.