Citizens Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CIA)

Citizens, Inc. (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 11,186 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,728% compared to the typical daily volume of 612 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citizens

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Citizens during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Citizens by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,379 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 10,267 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Citizens by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 458,886 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 10,235 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Citizens by 6.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Citizens by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 145,316 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 7,035 shares during the last quarter. 13.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Citizens from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday.

Citizens Trading Down 11.8 %

Shares of CIA stock traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3.68. 163,553 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 89,807. The company has a market cap of $183.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.11. Citizens has a fifty-two week low of $1.78 and a fifty-two week high of $5.95. The stock's 50 day moving average is $4.92 and its 200-day moving average is $4.56.

Citizens (NYSE:CIA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The insurance provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). The business 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 anticipate that Citizens will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

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.