Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Singular Research raised Citizens to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Citizens Price Performance

Shares of CIA stock opened at $4.90 on Tuesday. Citizens has a 12-month low of $1.78 and a 12-month high of $5.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.41.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Citizens by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 36,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Citizens during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in Citizens during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Citizens by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 202,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 66,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citizens by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 427,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235 shares in the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citizens Company Profile

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.