ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $4.98, but opened at $4.86. ICL Group shares last traded at $4.85, with a volume of 89,422 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

ICL Group Stock Down 2.2 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.25.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a $0.0133 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is 45.16%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,360,670 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of ICL Group by 2,927,153.2% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 14,636,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,766,000 after acquiring an additional 14,635,766 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in ICL Group during the third quarter worth $11,967,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in ICL Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,306,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,848 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in ICL Group in the third quarter valued at $6,689,000. 13.38% of the stock is currently 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.