Michael Philip Harwood Purchases 10,000 Shares of Citizens (NYSE:CIA) Stock

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) Director Michael Philip Harwood purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.80 per share, with a total value of $38,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,164.80. The trade was a 912.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Citizens Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE CIA traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.87. The stock had a trading volume of 53,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,466. Citizens, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.56 and a 1-year high of $6.54. The company has a market capitalization of $216.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.16.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $61.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.85 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 4.73% and a net margin of 4.55%. On average, research analysts forecast that Citizens, Inc. will post 0.12 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIA. Continental General Insurance Co. grew its position in shares of Citizens by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 2,176,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,513,000 after buying an additional 562,419 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citizens by 118.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 558,840 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Citizens by 142.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 199,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 117,502 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Citizens by 133.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 169,308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 96,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Citizens by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 202,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 56,188 shares in the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CIA. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Citizens from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Citizens in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Citizens from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citizens presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.50.

About Citizens

Citizens, Inc (NYSE:CIA) is a bank holding company headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Citizens Bank of Northern Arkansas, the company provides commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, small businesses and corporate clients across Northern and Central Arkansas.

Citizens offers a range of deposit products, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside lending solutions such as residential mortgages, commercial real estate loans and consumer installment loans.