Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Stock Bumped Down to “Strong Sell” by Zacks Research

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

CIA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Citizens from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Freedom Broker started coverage on Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Citizens from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Trading Up 1.9%

Citizens stock opened at $3.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.81. Citizens has a 1-year low of $3.38 and a 1-year high of $6.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.47.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $63.85 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Citizens will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens

In other news, Director Michael Philip Harwood purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.80 per share, with a total value of $38,000.00. Following the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of Citizens stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,945.10. This represents a 3.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 27,376 shares of company stock valued at $102,390. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Citizens by 8.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 18,244 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Citizens by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Citizens by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.