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 note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Citizens Stock Performance

Shares of CIA opened at $3.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.55. Citizens has a one year low of $1.78 and a one year high of $5.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.11.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last released 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). The business had revenue of $63.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.66 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 8.87%. On average, analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.