ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Announces Earnings Results

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%.

ICL Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ICL opened at $6.58 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.15. ICL Group has a 52-week low of $3.79 and a 52-week high of $6.95.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.0403 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This is a boost from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICL. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,267,245 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ICL Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

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.