ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th.

ICL Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ICL stock opened at $4.22 on Monday. ICL Group has a 1 year low of $3.79 and a 1 year high of $5.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.18 and its 200-day moving average is $4.53. The stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.23.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.037 per share. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.84%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of ICL Group by 2,927,153.2% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 14,636,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,766,000 after acquiring an additional 14,635,766 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in ICL Group by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 44,119,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $189,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,670 shares in the last quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its position in ICL Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 17,215,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,813,000 after purchasing an additional 465,031 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in ICL Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,894,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,719,000 after purchasing an additional 419,241 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 931.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 320,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 289,174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

ICL Group Company Profile

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.