ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.80, but opened at $4.95. ICL Group shares last traded at $4.90, with a volume of 128,205 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

ICL Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.36.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a $0.0133 dividend. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.16%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of ICL Group by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the last quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in ICL Group during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of ICL Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,000. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in ICL Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. acquired a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth $59,000. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.