ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ICL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.23.

ICL Group Stock Performance

ICL stock opened at $5.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.06. ICL Group has a 1-year low of $4.85 and a 1-year high of $7.35.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 5.23%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were issued a $0.048 dividend. This represents a $0.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the 2nd quarter worth $20,022,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in ICL Group by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,008,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,693,000 after purchasing an additional 2,563,805 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in ICL Group by 120.2% in 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 in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in ICL Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,820,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ICL Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,798,000. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.