Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Raised to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Citizens from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Freedom Broker began coverage on shares of Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Citizens from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CIA opened at $3.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.80. The firm has a market cap of $195.62 million, a P/E ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 0.47. Citizens has a 52 week low of $3.38 and a 52 week high of $6.54.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $61.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Citizens will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg acquired 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.65 per share, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Philip Harwood acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.80 per share, for a total transaction of $38,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 11,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,164.80. This trade represents a 912.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired 27,376 shares of company stock valued at $102,390 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIA. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Citizens by 15.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens by 25.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens by 8.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 18,244 shares during the period. 13.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Citizens Company Profile

Citizens, Inc (NYSE:CIA) is an insurance holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Through its subsidiaries, the company primarily provides life insurance and related products to individuals and families in the United States and selected international markets.

Its product offerings include final-expense and burial insurance, ordinary whole-life and term-life policies, endowment products, and certain accident and health insurance coverage. These products are designed to provide financial protection, death benefits, and other forms of insurance support for policyholders and their beneficiaries.

Citizens has historically served customers in the United States as well as markets in Latin America and Asia.