Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 382,780 Shares of ICL Group Ltd. $ICL

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,066,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 382,780 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in ICL Group were worth $167,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Optas LLC boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 99.8% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 59,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 29,498 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 68.0% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 83,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 33,727 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 296,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,891 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 351.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in ICL Group in the 4th quarter valued at $153,000. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ICL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.10.

ICL Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ICL stock opened at $6.39 on Monday. ICL Group Ltd. has a 52-week low of $4.76 and a 52-week high of $7.35. The stock has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5.24 and a 200-day moving average of $5.46.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.0465 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

ICL Group 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.