Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Citizens from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Freedom Broker began coverage on shares of Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Citizens from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

Citizens Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:CIA opened at $3.54 on Wednesday. Citizens has a twelve month low of $3.38 and a twelve month high of $6.54. The company has a market cap of $197.97 million, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.81.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 EPS 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 company had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. As a group, analysts expect that Citizens will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.65 per share, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Philip Harwood bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.80 per share, with a total value of $38,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 have bought a total of 27,376 shares of company stock worth $102,390 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Citizens by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 18,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

About Citizens

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.