ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $5.62, but opened at $6.15. ICL Group shares last traded at $5.9950, with a volume of 983,389 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ICL Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.10.

ICL Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $5.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.46. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38 and a beta of 0.86. 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 (NYSE:ICL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.16% and a return on equity of 7.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.0465 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ICL. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the 1st quarter worth about $107,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 120.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,153,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,635,000 after buying an additional 2,267,245 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 26,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 5,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 184,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 47,887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.