ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Short Interest Down 6.3% in August

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the August 15th total of 1,270,000 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 735,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

ICL Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ICL traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.87. The company had a trading volume of 112,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,528. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.61. ICL Group has a fifty-two week low of $3.80 and a fifty-two week high of $5.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $0.037 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in ICL Group by 103.8% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 7,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in ICL Group during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in ICL Group during the second quarter worth about $56,000. Callan Capital LLC purchased a new position in ICL Group during the first quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in ICL Group during the first quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.