Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $4.38 and traded as high as $5.91. Citizens shares last traded at $5.83, with a volume of 87,925 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Citizens in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Citizens Trading Down 1.2%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.38. The company has a market capitalization of $292.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 0.39.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $62.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.78 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 6.42% and a net margin of 4.57%. Equities analysts predict that Citizens, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Citizens by 39.7% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 31,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 9,064 shares during the last quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC grew its holdings in Citizens by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC now owns 700,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 323,137 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in shares of Citizens by 108.4% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 32,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 17,064 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Citizens by 142.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 117,502 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 157,169 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 11,853 shares during the period. 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.