Norges Bank Buys New Shares in ICL Group Ltd. $ICL

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 21,297,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,297,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 36,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 2,097 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in ICL Group by 16.3% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in ICL Group by 2.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 134,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $923,000 after buying an additional 2,841 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC grew its position in ICL Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 91,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in ICL Group by 351.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014 shares during the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ICL Group Price Performance

Shares of ICL stock opened at $5.90 on Friday. 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 Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $4.76 and a fifty-two week high of $7.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.50.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 3.52%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be given a $0.0535 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ICL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of ICL Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, ICL Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.60.

ICL Group Company Profile

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.