Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

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

Citizens Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIA opened at $4.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.43. Citizens has a 52-week low of $2.90 and a 52-week high of $6.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIA. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new stake in Citizens in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 14,157 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position 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 valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 5,141 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Citizens in the second quarter valued at $63,000. 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.