Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Citizens stock crossed above its 200‑day moving average—the 200‑day MA is $5.41, the shares traded as high as $5.60 and last at $5.57 on volume of 86,739 shares.
• CEO Jon Stenberg bought 10,000 shares at an average $4.81 on March 17, increasing his holdings to 208,930 shares (a 5.03% rise); corporate insiders own about 1.6% of the company.
• Citizens beat the quarter with EPS $0.11 vs. $0.08 expected and revenue $72.07M vs. $67.89M, but analysts’ consensus rating remains a Hold; market cap is roughly $280.2M with a P/E of ~19.9.

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $5.41 and traded as high as $5.60. Citizens shares last traded at $5.57, with a volume of 86,739 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CIA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Citizens in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut 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, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Citizens Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $280.17 million, a P/E ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 10,000 shares of Citizens stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.81 per share, for a total transaction of $48,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 208,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,953.30. The trade was a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citizens by 0.9% in the third 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. increased its stake 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Citizens by 118.0% during the 2nd 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. State Street Corp boosted its position in Citizens by 7.6% during the 4th 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 boosted its position in Citizens by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 473,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,286,000 after buying an additional 21,963 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.73% of the company's stock.

About Citizens

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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