ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Stock Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $5.49 and traded as low as $5.01. ICL Group shares last traded at $5.0250, with a volume of 868,068 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, ICL Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.00.

ICL Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.49.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.0535 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 29,770,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $152,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081,641 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ICL Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,066,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $167,132,000 after purchasing an additional 382,780 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 96.6% in the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 26,349,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,160,000 after purchasing an additional 12,946,737 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,502,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $122,297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

ICL Group Company 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.