Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Citizens Stock Performance

NYSE:CIA opened at $3.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.66 million, a PE ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4.92 and its 200 day moving average is $4.57. Citizens has a fifty-two week low of $1.78 and a fifty-two week high of $5.95.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in Citizens during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Citizens in the 3rd quarter valued at $82,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Citizens in the 4th quarter worth $92,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Citizens during the 4th quarter worth $120,000. Hedge funds and other 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.