Short Interest in ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Grows By 61.9%

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,060,000 shares, a growth of 61.9% from the February 13th total of 1,890,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 933,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

ICL Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ICL traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.25. The company had a trading volume of 331,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 937,174. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.93. ICL Group has a fifty-two week low of $3.79 and a fifty-two week high of $6.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.0403 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in ICL Group by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in ICL Group by 754.0% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 7,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in ICL Group by 223.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 10,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 7,405 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in ICL Group during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in ICL Group by 35.6% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares during the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

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.