Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Citizens in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Citizens Trading Down 0.9%

Citizens stock opened at $4.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.60 million, a P/E ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.46. Citizens has a 52 week low of $2.90 and a 52 week high of $6.40.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. Citizens had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $72.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.89 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens

In other Citizens news, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.81 per share, with a total value of $48,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 208,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,953.30. The trade was a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CIA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Citizens by 4.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 42,753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in Citizens by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 61,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Citizens by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 40,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Citizens by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 70,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 4,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Citizens by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

Citizens Company Profile

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.