O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,351 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Citizens were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CIA. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens during the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Citizens by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 46,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 2,901 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Citizens by 24.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,379 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 10,267 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Citizens in the 4th quarter worth about $319,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Citizens in the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Citizens news, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 106,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.89 per share, with a total value of $413,662.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 124,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $483,772.07. The trade was a 590.02 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Citizens Stock Down 5.9 %

Shares of NYSE CIA opened at $4.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.87 million, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.82 and a 200-day moving average of $4.58. Citizens, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.78 and a 52-week high of $5.95.

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

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.