Investors Purchase High Volume of Citizens Put Options (NYSE:CIA)

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 5,030 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 189% compared to the average volume of 1,742 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Citizens by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 238,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 18,244 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Citizens by 25.0% during the second 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 lifted its stake in shares of Citizens by 15.7% during the first 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 period. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CIA. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Citizens from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Citigroup began coverage on Citizens in a report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Freedom Broker assumed coverage on Citizens in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citizens has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

Citizens Price Performance

Shares of CIA stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $3.54. 47,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 115,705. Citizens has a fifty-two week low of $3.39 and a fifty-two week high of $6.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.87. The company has a market cap of $197.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.43.

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

About Citizens

Citizens, Inc (NYSE: CIA) is an insurance holding company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Through its insurance subsidiaries, the company provides life insurance products designed to help individuals and families address final expenses, income protection and other financial needs.

Its product offerings include final expense insurance, ordinary life insurance and other forms of life coverage. Citizens distributes its policies through independent agents and other insurance representatives, serving customers in the United States and selected international markets.

The company traces its history to 1969 and has developed operations in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean in addition to its U.S.