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

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

Citizens Stock Up 2.4%

NYSE:CIA opened at $3.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $218.39 million, a PE ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.43. Citizens, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.56 and a 12 month high of $6.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.13.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $61.90 million during 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens, Inc. will post 0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIA has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Citizens from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Freedom Broker initiated coverage on shares of Citizens in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Citizens currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.50.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Citizens by 3,686.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 14,157 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Citizens by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 5,141 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,000. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.