Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $5.33 and traded as high as $5.54. Citizens shares last traded at $5.3830, with a volume of 129,490 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIA has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Citizens from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Citizens from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Citizens presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Citizens Trading Down 0.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $270.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.33.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $70.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.89 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 7.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Citizens, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 10,000 shares of Citizens stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.82 per share, for a total transaction of $48,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 327,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,906.68. This represents a 3.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders bought 20,100 shares of company stock worth $96,753. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Citizens by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,441,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,817,000 after purchasing an additional 21,783 shares during the last quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in Citizens by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 2,176,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,513,000 after purchasing an additional 562,419 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens by 118.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 558,840 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Citizens by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 617,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 43,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Citizens by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 473,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 21,963 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 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.