ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, an increase of 12.3% from the June 30th total of 1,060,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 534,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ICL Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,474,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $135,835,000 after purchasing an additional 373,097 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in ICL Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,565,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in ICL Group by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ICL Group by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 3,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ICL Group by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 16,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ICL Group Stock Performance

NYSE ICL traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,569,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,651. ICL Group has a 12 month low of $4.13 and a 12 month high of $6.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.25.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 9.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.0457 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.65%.

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.