ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Short Interest Update

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the October 15th total of 1,000,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 852,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

ICL Group Price Performance

ICL Group stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $4.50. The company had a trading volume of 924,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,400. ICL Group has a 1 year low of $3.79 and a 1 year high of $5.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.34.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that ICL Group will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.0133 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the last quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $56,000. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. 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.