Citizens' (CIA) "Hold (C)" Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Citizens' stock received a "hold (C)" rating from Weiss Ratings, while Wall Street Zen upgraded it from "sell" to "hold" in August.
• The company's shares rose by 3.7% to $5.54, with a market cap of approximately $278.33 million and a P/E ratio of 25.18.
• Citizens reported earnings of $0.13 per share last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, and institutional investors have increased their holdings in the company significantly.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citizens from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy".

Citizens Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of CIA stock traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, hitting $5.54. The stock had a trading volume of 95,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,519. The firm has a market cap of $278.33 million, a P/E ratio of 25.18 and a beta of 0.39. Citizens has a twelve month low of $2.90 and a twelve month high of $5.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.35.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $62.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.78 million. Citizens had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 6.42%. On average, analysts expect that Citizens will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Citizens by 118.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,234 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,603,000 after buying an additional 558,840 shares during the last quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. bought a new position in shares of Citizens during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,505,000. Truffle Hound Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC now owns 700,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,185,000 after buying an additional 323,137 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Citizens by 142.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,809 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 117,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens by 133.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 169,308 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 96,836 shares in the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Company Profile

Citizens, Inc provides life insurance products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Life Insurance and Home Service Insurance. The Life Insurance segment issues ordinary whole life insurance and endowment policies in the United States dollar-denominated amounts to non-U.S.

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