Weiss Ratings Reiterates Hold (C) Rating for Citizens (NYSE:CIA)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating for Citizens (NYSE:CIA), while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from "sell" to "hold" as well.
• Citizens' stock price increased by 0.5% to $5.67, with a market capitalization of $284.76 million and a PE ratio of 25.76.
• Citizens' most recent quarterly earnings showed a EPS of $0.13, surpassing analyst estimates of $0.04, although revenues slightly missed expectations at $62.68 million.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Citizens from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Citizens Stock Up 0.5%

Citizens stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.67. The stock had a trading volume of 67,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,507. Citizens has a 12 month low of $2.90 and a 12 month high of $6.07. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $5.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.76 million, a PE ratio of 25.76 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new stake in shares of Citizens during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 14,157 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Citizens during the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citizens during the second quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens during the second quarter worth about $86,000. 13.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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