Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Position in ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in shares of ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,788 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in ICL Group were worth $638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ICL. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in ICL Group by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 236,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 5,787 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC lifted its position in ICL Group by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 29,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 6,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in ICL Group by 223.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 10,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 7,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

ICL Group Price Performance

NYSE:ICL opened at $6.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. ICL Group Ltd has a 52 week low of $3.79 and a 52 week high of $6.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.26.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%. Equities analysts expect that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.37 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.0403 dividend. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

ICL Group Profile

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.