ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Separately, Barclays decreased their price target on ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

ICL Group Stock Down 3.1 %

ICL Group stock opened at $3.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.94. ICL Group has a 1-year low of $3.80 and a 1-year high of $5.72. The company has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.58.

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

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.037 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in ICL Group by 8.1% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 34,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in ICL Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 32,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in ICL Group by 103.8% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 7,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in ICL Group by 23.6% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 18.1% in the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 28,782 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410 shares during the last quarter. 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.