The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $1.20 Million Position in ICL Group Ltd. $ICL

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) by 30.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 100,658 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in ICL Group were worth $1,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ICL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of ICL Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 19,616,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,349,000 after purchasing an additional 877,644 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in ICL Group by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 22,040,479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,812,000 after buying an additional 2,502,702 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in ICL Group by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,856,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,615,000 after buying an additional 617,801 shares during the period. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD raised its stake in ICL Group by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD now owns 2,084,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,960,000 after buying an additional 502,628 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,066,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $167,132,000 after acquiring an additional 382,780 shares in the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, ICL Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of ICL stock opened at $5.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.23 and a 200-day moving average of $5.44. The company has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.94. ICL Group Ltd. has a one year low of $4.76 and a one year high of $6.97.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 8.40%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.0581 dividend. This is a boost from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

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.