ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Short Interest Update

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the October 15th total of 1,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 852,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ICL traded up $0.08 on Monday, hitting $4.50. 924,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 777,400. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $4.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.34. ICL Group has a one year low of $3.79 and a one year high of $5.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.23.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Research analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.0133 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is 48.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 392,805 shares during the last quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ICL Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 17,215,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,813,000 after buying an additional 465,031 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth approximately $11,967,000. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

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.