Citizens Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CIA)

Key Points

• Unusually large options trading: Investors purchased 2,458 put options on Citizens on Monday, roughly a 164% increase versus the typical daily put volume of 930, indicating elevated bearish positioning.
• CEO insider buy: CEO Jon Stenberg bought 10,000 shares at $4.81, raising his holdings to 208,930 shares (a 5.03% increase), while insiders as a group own 1.60% of the company.
• Fundamentals and stock action: Citizens beat Q1 EPS estimates ($0.11 vs. $0.08), the stock traded up 1.6% to $5.18, and the company has a market cap of about $260.6M with a P/E of 18.5.

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 2,458 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 164% compared to the typical volume of 930 put options.

Insider Activity at Citizens

In other news, CEO Jon Stenberg bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.81 per share, with a total value of $48,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 208,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,004,953.30. This trade represents a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Citizens by 3,686.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,541 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 14,157 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Citizens by 92.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,724 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 5,141 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. bought a new position in Citizens in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Citizens in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citizens in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Institutional investors own 13.73% of the company's stock.

Citizens Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE CIA traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $5.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 110,745. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.43. Citizens has a 12 month low of $2.90 and a 12 month high of $6.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 0.48.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. Citizens had a net margin of 5.71% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The company had revenue of $72.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $67.89 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Citizens will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CIA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Citizens in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Citizens from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

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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