ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $4.63 and last traded at $4.6450, with a volume of 1,261,356 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $4.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ICL shares. Wall Street Zen cut ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat, ICL Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.03.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 3.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. As a group, analysts expect that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.0581 per share. This represents a $0.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0535. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. ICL Group’s payout ratio is currently 70.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in ICL Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 72,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 12.5% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,360 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 12.7% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 50,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ICL Group by 17.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 50,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 7,665 shares during the period. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ICL Group

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE: ICL) is a global specialty minerals and chemicals company headquartered in Israel. Formerly known as Israel Chemicals, the company was established in 1968 and develops, produces and markets mineral-based products for agriculture, food, and industrial applications.

Its agriculture business supplies potash and phosphate-based fertilizers, specialty plant nutrients, and related solutions designed to support crop production. ICL also produces ingredients for the food industry, including specialty phosphates and other functional materials used in food processing and nutrition applications.

The company’s industrial products include bromine-based compounds, flame retardants, water-treatment chemicals, and other specialty chemicals.