ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) announced its earnings results on Monday. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02, Zacks reports. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of ICL Group stock opened at $6.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.27 and its 200 day moving average is $5.64. ICL Group has a 1 year low of $3.79 and a 1 year high of $6.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.0403 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This is a boost from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. ICL Group’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $107,000. United Services Automobile Association boosted its stake in ICL Group by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 26,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $23,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267,245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICL has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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.

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.