Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Citizens, Inc. stock price has surpassed its 200-day moving average of $4.26, trading as high as $5.46.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Citizens from a "sell" rating to a "hold," reflecting a generally positive outlook with an average rating of "Strong Buy."
• The company reported earnings of $0.13 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and indicating a return on equity of 6.42%.

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $4.26 and traded as high as $5.46. Citizens shares last traded at $5.45, with a volume of 126,895 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Citizens Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.26. The stock has a market cap of $273.56 million, a P/E ratio of 24.75 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CIA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Citizens by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 269,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Citizens by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,696 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Citizens in the 4th quarter worth approximately $291,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Citizens by 7,178.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 78,026 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 76,954 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Citizens in the 4th quarter worth approximately $120,000. Institutional investors own 13.73% of the company's stock.

About Citizens

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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