Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Citizens Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:CIA opened at $3.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $190.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 0.47. Citizens has a 12 month low of $3.38 and a 12 month high of $6.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.79.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $61.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 4.73% and a net margin of 4.55%. Research analysts expect that Citizens will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Citizens

In other news, Director Michael Philip Harwood bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.80 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,945.10. The trade was a 3.18% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired 27,376 shares of company stock valued at $102,390 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $1,200,000 after acquiring an additional 18,244 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Citizens by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Citizens by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

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.