ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $6.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $4.00.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

ICL Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ICL opened at $6.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.22. ICL Group has a 12 month low of $3.79 and a 12 month high of $6.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.49.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ICL Group will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a $0.0133 dividend. This represents a $0.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of ICL Group by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 2,985 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 7,405 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in ICL Group during the second quarter valued at $56,000. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

ICL Group Company 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.