Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Upgraded to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CIA. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Citizens from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Freedom Broker began coverage on shares of Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Citizens from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE CIA opened at $3.46 on Friday. Citizens has a 12 month low of $3.38 and a 12 month high of $6.54. The stock has a market cap of $193.94 million, a P/E ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.81.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.85 million. Citizens had a net margin of 4.55% and a return on equity of 4.73%. As a group, analysts forecast that Citizens will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens

In other Citizens news, Director Michael Philip Harwood purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.80 per share, for a total transaction of $38,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,164.80. This trade represents a 912.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $43,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,945.10. The trade was a 3.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 27,376 shares of company stock worth $102,390. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Citizens by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 5,746 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Citizens by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 66,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Citizens by 8.3% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.