Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Price action: Citizens (NYSE:CIA) crossed above its 200‑day moving average of $5.43, trading as high as $5.76 and last at $5.5050, even as the stock was reported down about 3.9% intraday.
• Analyst stance: The consensus rating is Hold, after recent downgrades including Wall Street Zen cutting its rating from Buy to Hold and Weiss Ratings reissuing a Hold (c).
• Insider and results: CEO Jon Stenberg bought 10,000 shares at $4.81 (raising his stake to 208,930 shares), and the company beat quarterly estimates with EPS $0.11 versus $0.08 and revenue $72.07M versus $67.89M expected.

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $5.43 and traded as high as $5.76. Citizens shares last traded at $5.5050, with a volume of 79,063 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on CIA shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Citizens from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Citizens in a report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Citizens Stock Down 3.9%

The stock has a market cap of $276.90 million, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.43.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. Citizens had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 5.71%.The company had revenue of $72.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $67.89 million. On average, research analysts expect that Citizens, Inc. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 10,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $1,004,953.30. This represents a 5.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Citizens by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,441,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,817,000 after purchasing an additional 21,783 shares in the last quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of Citizens by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 2,176,694 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,513,000 after buying an additional 562,419 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Citizens by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 617,732 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,984,000 after buying an additional 43,826 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in Citizens by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 473,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,286,000 after buying an additional 21,963 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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