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

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

CIA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Citizens in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Citizens from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of CIA opened at $3.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $200.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.47. Citizens has a 52-week low of $3.38 and a 52-week high of $6.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.84.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $61.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. Citizens had a net margin of 4.55% and a return on equity of 4.73%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Citizens will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citizens news, Director Michael Philip Harwood bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.80 per share, with a total value of $38,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,164.80. The trade was a 912.41% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.65 per share, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,945.10. This trade represents a 3.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 27,376 shares of company stock worth $102,390. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CIA. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citizens by 8.3% during the first 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 period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased 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 valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Citizens by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,746 shares during the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citizens Company Profile

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.