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

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Citizens from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Citizens Price Performance

Shares of CIA opened at $3.83 on Friday. Citizens has a one year low of $3.56 and a one year high of $6.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.30. The stock has a market cap of $214.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.48.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $61.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.85 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 4.73% and a net margin of 4.55%. Analysts anticipate that Citizens will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.65 per share, for a total transaction of $43,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 389,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,945.10. This represents a 3.18% 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 this link. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 27,376 shares of company stock valued at $112,590. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CIA. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Citizens by 3,686.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 14,157 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Citizens by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 5,141 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Citizens during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.