ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

ICL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Price Performance

Shares of ICL opened at $5.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.44. ICL Group has a 52-week low of $4.76 and a 52-week high of $6.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15 and a beta of 0.96.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 8.40%. Sell-side analysts predict that ICL Group will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.0581 per share. This represents a $0.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ICL. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd acquired a new position in ICL Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $151,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 49.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,115,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,779,000 after buying an additional 370,457 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 19.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 942,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,865,000 after buying an additional 154,459 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of ICL Group by 19.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,174,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,082,000 after acquiring an additional 191,902 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.