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 report released on Friday morning.

Citizens Trading Down 11.8 %

Shares of CIA stock opened at $3.68 on Friday. Citizens has a twelve month low of $1.78 and a twelve month high of $5.95. The stock has a market cap of $183.66 million, a P/E ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.92 and a 200 day moving average of $4.55.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $63.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.66 million. Citizens had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 11.50%. On average, research analysts predict that Citizens will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CIA. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Citizens by 24.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,379 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 10,267 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Citizens by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 458,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 10,235 shares in the last quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citizens during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,511,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Citizens by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 554,894 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 68,824 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Citizens in the 4th quarter worth $92,000. 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.