Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Director Michael Philip Harwood Acquires 10,000 Shares of Stock

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) Director Michael Philip Harwood purchased 10,000 shares of Citizens stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.80 per share, for a total transaction of $38,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,164.80. The trade was a 912.41% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Citizens Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIA traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $3.87. 53,917 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 114,466. Citizens, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.56 and a 12 month high of $6.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.87 and a 200-day moving average of $5.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.61 million, a P/E ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Citizens by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,441,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,817,000 after acquiring an additional 21,783 shares during the period. Continental General Insurance Co. grew its stake in shares of Citizens by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 2,176,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,513,000 after purchasing an additional 562,419 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens by 118.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 558,840 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Citizens by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 617,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 43,826 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Citizens by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 473,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 21,963 shares in the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CIA. Weiss Ratings downgraded Citizens from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Freedom Broker began coverage on Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.50 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.50.

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.