Short Interest in ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Increases By 40.0%

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a growth of 40.0% from the January 31st total of 1,350,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 901,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ICL shares. Barclays upgraded ICL Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $4.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ICL. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 56.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in ICL Group by 754.0% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 7,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in ICL Group by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in ICL Group by 223.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 10,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 7,405 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in ICL Group during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. 13.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ICL Group Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ICL traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $5.90. 1,092,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 977,209. ICL Group has a 12 month low of $3.79 and a 12 month high of $6.57. The company has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.83.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.08. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.37 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.0403 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.