StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ICL Group (NYSE:ICL – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ICL. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on ICL Group from $12.00 to $8.50 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on ICL Group from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 27th.

ICL Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ICL Group stock opened at $6.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.95, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.06. ICL Group has a 12-month low of $6.41 and a 12-month high of $12.96.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. ICL Group had a return on equity of 42.79% and a net margin of 21.56%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.99 billion. Equities analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were paid a $0.104 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.30%. ICL Group's payout ratio is 24.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ICL. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of ICL Group by 325,000.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,251 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of ICL Group by 1,091.3% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,002 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in ICL Group during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. 14.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ICL Group

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ICL Group Ltd. engages in the manufacture of mineral-based products for the agriculture, food, and engineered materials markets. Its products include potash and phosphate fertilizers, specialty fertilizers, functional ingredients, flame retardants and magnesia products. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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