Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Citizens Trading Up 1.0 %

CIA stock opened at $2.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.11 million, a P/E ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.19. Citizens has a twelve month low of $1.64 and a twelve month high of $3.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.75.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The insurance provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $65.61 million during the quarter. Citizens had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 10.15%.

Insider Transactions at Citizens

In related news, CEO Gerald Shields purchased 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.22 per share, for a total transaction of $35,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $374,567.28. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders purchased 24,000 shares of company stock worth $52,287 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in Citizens by 10.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,304 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in Citizens in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Citizens in the third quarter worth $66,000. Citigroup Inc. purchased a new position in Citizens in the third quarter worth $96,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Citizens in the third quarter worth $249,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

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.