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

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

Citizens Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:CIA opened at $4.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.60 million, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.26. Citizens has a 52 week low of $1.92 and a 52 week high of $5.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.74 and a 200 day moving average of $4.59.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $63.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.66 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 8.87%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Citizens will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg acquired 106,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.89 per share, for a total transaction of $413,662.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 124,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $483,772.07. This trade represents a 590.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,379 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 10,267 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Citizens by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 458,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 10,235 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Citizens by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 46,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 2,901 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Citizens by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 145,316 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 7,035 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Citizens in the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. 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.