ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ICL. Weiss Ratings upgraded ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays cut their target price on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, ICL Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Trading Up 0.5%

ICL stock opened at $5.08 on Friday. ICL Group has a 52 week low of $4.76 and a 52 week high of $6.97. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.38.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ICL Group will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a $0.0535 dividend. This is a boost from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ICL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in ICL Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $122,297,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in ICL Group by 96.6% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 26,349,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,160,000 after purchasing an additional 12,946,737 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in ICL Group by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 19,537,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,054,000 after purchasing an additional 5,805,699 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in ICL Group by 120.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,153,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD now owns 6,060,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,768,000 after buying an additional 1,481,084 shares during the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ICL Group

ICL Group is a global specialty minerals and chemicals company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Established in its current form through the consolidation of Israeli government–owned chemical operations, ICL has evolved into a publicly traded entity on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ICL). The company’s origins date back to state-driven mineral extraction in the Negev and the Dead Sea region, and over the decades it has grown through strategic acquisitions, technological innovation and a gradual privatization process completed in the early 2010s.

ICL’s core operations are organized into three principal business areas.