ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $5.99 and last traded at $6.00, with a volume of 49686 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ICL shares. Barclays raised ICL Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $4.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

ICL Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.94 and its 200 day moving average is $4.47. The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.22.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The firm 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 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a $0.0133 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of ICL Group by 3.2% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 44,119,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $189,200,000 after buying an additional 1,360,670 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in ICL Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,967,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of ICL Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,306,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,873,000 after acquiring an additional 8,848 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,733,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,564,000 after acquiring an additional 159,910 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of ICL Group by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,335,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,676,000 after acquiring an additional 120,169 shares in the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.