StockNews.com Upgrades ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) to “Strong-Buy”

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

Separately, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

ICL Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ICL stock opened at $3.81 on Friday. ICL Group has a 52-week low of $3.79 and a 52-week high of $5.72. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.23 and a 200-day moving average of $4.56.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 8.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ICL Group will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.037 dividend. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in shares of ICL Group by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 44,119,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,670 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ICL Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,286,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $136,043,000 after buying an additional 392,805 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 2.8% in the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 17,215,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,813,000 after purchasing an additional 465,031 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 2,927,153.2% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 14,635,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,042,000. Institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.