Citizens Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CIA)

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 2,458 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 164% compared to the average volume of 930 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jon Stenberg purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.81 per share, for a total transaction of $48,100.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 208,930 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,953.30. This trade represents a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Citizens

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,441,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,817,000 after buying an additional 21,783 shares during the period. Continental General Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Citizens by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 2,176,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,513,000 after buying an additional 562,419 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Citizens by 118.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,032,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 558,840 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Citizens by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 617,732 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 43,826 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Citizens by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 473,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 21,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CIA. Wall Street Zen downgraded Citizens from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Citizens in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Citizens Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of CIA stock opened at $5.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $259.80 million, a PE ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.42. Citizens has a 52-week low of $2.90 and a 52-week high of $6.40.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $72.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.89 million. Citizens had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 5.71%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Citizens will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citizens Company Profile

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.