ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Rating Increased 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 research note published on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ICL opened at $4.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.35. ICL Group has a twelve month low of $3.79 and a twelve month high of $5.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.23.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.0133 per share. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. ICL Group’s payout ratio is 45.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised 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 last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 18.0% during the third quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 19,726 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 3,010 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 23.6% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 18.1% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 28,782 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 4,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 3.1% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 206,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $893,000 after buying an additional 6,148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.