PICO Holdings, Inc. Announces Sale of Its Stake in

LA JOLLA, Calif., Oct. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PICO Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PICO ) announced today that it has sold its stake of approximately 2.4 million shares of Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE: CCS ) for net proceeds of approximately $59.2 million. As a result of this disposition, the Company’s only material investment apart from cash and liquid marketable securities is its wholly – owned subsidiary, Vidler Water Company, a water resource and water storage business with assets and operations primarily in the Southwestern U.S.

About PICO Holdings, Inc.

PICO Holdings is a diversified holding company.  The Company recently announced that the Company's Board of Directors had engaged JMP Securities LLC as PICO’s exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP as PICO’s legal counsel to explore strategic alternatives to further enhance shareholder value. The intention of the engagements is to evaluate potential alternatives such as the sale of the Company, a merger, a business combination, or a sale, license or disposition of assets of the Company.

OTHER INFORMATION

At September 30, 2017, PICO Holdings, Inc. had a market capitalization of $386.5 million, and 23,146,463 shares outstanding.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this press release (other than statements of historical fact) are forward-looking statements. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "will," "could," "may," "should," "plan," "potential," "predict," "forecast," "project," and similar expressions and variations thereof identify certain of such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they were made. Although forward-looking statements are made based upon management's expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect upon the Company, a number of factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Such factors may include uncertainties associated with our ability to identify possible strategic transactions during our review of strategic alternatives and to execute on any possible strategic transaction that is identified through our review, as well as the uncertainties and risk factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, each filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that future developments will be in accordance with management's expectations or that the effect of future developments on the Company will be those anticipated by management.

Max Webb Chief Executive Officer 858 652 4114