Freedom Broker Begins Coverage on Citizens (NYSE:CIA)

Research analysts at Freedom Broker started coverage on shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. Freedom Broker’s price target suggests a potential upside of 39.21% from the company’s current price.

CIA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Citizens from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Citizens from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Citizens in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIA opened at $3.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.23. The company has a market cap of $221.14 million, a PE ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.48. Citizens has a 52 week low of $3.56 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.06). Citizens had a net margin of 4.55% and a return on equity of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.85 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.65 per share, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,945.10. This represents a 3.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Citizens by 3,686.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 14,157 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Citizens by 92.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 5,141 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Citizens during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Citizens in the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000. Institutional investors own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

About Citizens

Citizens, Inc (NYSE:CIA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Citizens Bank of Northern Arkansas, the company provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, small businesses and corporate clients across Northern and Central Arkansas.

Citizens offers a range of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside lending solutions such as residential mortgages, commercial real estate loans and consumer installment loans.