Legal & General Group Plc Has $24.37 Million Stock Position in ICL Group Ltd. $ICL

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,245,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 419,540 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in ICL Group were worth $24,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 351.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new stake in ICL Group during the second quarter worth $72,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in ICL Group during the third quarter worth $69,000. Credit Agricole S A acquired a new stake in ICL Group during the third quarter worth $72,000. Finally, a16z Perennial Management L.P. acquired a new stake in ICL Group during the third quarter worth $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

ICL Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ICL opened at $6.65 on Monday. ICL Group Ltd. has a 52 week low of $4.76 and a 52 week high of $7.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5.69 and its 200-day moving average is $5.48. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23 and a beta of 0.92.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Equities research analysts predict that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.0535 dividend. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ICL. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.60.

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.