Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

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

Citizens Trading Down 4.8 %

Citizens stock opened at $4.67 on Thursday. Citizens has a 1-year low of $1.78 and a 1-year high of $5.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.22 million, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.51.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Citizens by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 269,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Citizens by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 46,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Citizens by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 36,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Citizens by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 106,327 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 5,696 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

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.