ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday.

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

ICL Group Price Performance

NYSE ICL opened at $5.18 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.16% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that ICL Group will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.0465 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 2,055.0% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 4,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in ICL Group by 351.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 4,014 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of ICL Group in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 23.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in ICL Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ICL Group Company Profile

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.