ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $4.15, but opened at $4.42. ICL Group shares last traded at $4.45, with a volume of 239,346 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th.

ICL Group Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.14 and its 200-day moving average is $4.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 6.08%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.037 dividend. This represents a $0.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 45.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ICL Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,286,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $136,043,000 after purchasing an additional 392,805 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 2,927,153.2% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 14,636,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,766,000 after buying an additional 14,635,766 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the third quarter valued at about $11,967,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 23.6% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 8.1% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 34,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,542 shares in the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ICL Group

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.