ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Price Target Raised to $6.50

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) had its price objective lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $6.00 to $6.50 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ICL has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays raised ICL Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $4.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com raised ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of ICL stock opened at $6.02 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.81. The company has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. ICL Group has a 12-month low of $3.79 and a 12-month high of $6.57.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. Analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.0403 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is an increase from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in ICL Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 49,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 6,561 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in ICL Group by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 77,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 18,914 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in ICL Group by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 63,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,379 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in ICL Group by 258.6% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 250,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 180,713 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in ICL Group by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,412,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,978,000 after purchasing an additional 237,704 shares during the period. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.