ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Short Interest Up 12.3% in July

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, an increase of 12.3% from the June 30th total of 1,060,000 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 534,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of ICL Group by 8.1% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 34,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 2,542 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in ICL Group by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 32,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in ICL Group by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in ICL Group by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 7,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the period. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ICL traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $4.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,569,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,651. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $4.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. ICL Group has a 52-week low of $4.13 and a 52-week high of $6.72.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ICL Group will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.0457 dividend. This represents a $0.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.65%.

About ICL Group

ICL Group Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty minerals and chemicals company worldwide. It operates in four segments: Industrial Products, Potash, Phosphate Solutions, and Growing Solutions. The Industrial Products segment produces bromine out of a solution that is a by-product of the potash production process, as well as bromine-based compounds; produces various grades of potash, salt, magnesium chloride, and magnesia products; and produces and markets phosphorous-based flame retardants and other phosphorus-based products.