Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens from “strong sell” to “sell,” while other analysts issued buy ratings. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $5.50.
• Citizens shares fell $0.05 to $3.87, near the lower end of their 12-month range of $3.56 to $6.54. The stock is trading below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The company missed quarterly expectations, reporting $0.01 in EPS versus $0.07 expected and revenue of $61.9 million versus $63.85 million expected. CEO Jon Stenberg nevertheless purchased 12,000 shares at an average price of $3.65.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

CIA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Citizens in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Freedom Broker started coverage on Citizens in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Citizens from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5.50.

Citizens Price Performance

NYSE CIA traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $3.87. 93,296 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 159,089. Citizens has a twelve month low of $3.56 and a twelve month high of $6.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.61 million, a P/E ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.48. The company's 50 day moving average price is $4.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.18.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) last released 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). Citizens had a net margin of 4.55% and a return on equity of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $61.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.85 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Citizens will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citizens

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg acquired 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.65 per share, with a total value of $43,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 389,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,421,945.10. The trade was a 3.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Citizens by 4.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 42,753 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC grew its stake in shares of Citizens by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 61,184 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Citizens by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 40,968 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Citizens by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 70,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 4,420 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Citizens by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,123 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,582 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.

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