Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Citizens Trading Down 11.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CIA traded down $0.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.68. The company had a trading volume of 163,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 89,552. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.66 million, a P/E ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.11. Citizens has a 12 month low of $1.78 and a 12 month high of $5.95.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). Citizens had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 11.50%. The firm had revenue of $63.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.66 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Citizens

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CIA. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 554,894 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after buying an additional 68,824 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 458,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 10,235 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Citizens by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 427,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares during the period. Truffle Hound Capital LLC bought a new stake in Citizens in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,511,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Citizens by 1.0% during the fourth 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 period. 13.73% of the stock is 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.