ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL – Get Rating) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.50.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ICL shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 24th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of ICL Group from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 17th.

ICL Group stock opened at $11.62 on Monday. ICL Group has a 12-month low of $6.16 and a 12-month high of $12.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. ICL Group had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that ICL Group will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 23rd were issued a $0.1318 dividend. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 22nd. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $19,878,000. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ICL Group by 27.3% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of ICL Group by 40.3% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 246,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 70,683 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ICL Group by 19.7% in the first quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 382,902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,622,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the last quarter.

ICL Group Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 Innovative Ag Solutions (IAS). 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.

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