HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 8,767 Shares of ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,767 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in ICL Group were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in ICL Group by 49.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 78,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 25,992 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,985 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of ICL Group by 40.5% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 14,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 230,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 24,309 shares during the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ICL Group Stock Performance

NYSE ICL opened at $5.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.56. ICL Group Ltd has a 52-week low of $3.79 and a 52-week high of $6.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.09.

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

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.0403 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 3.01%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ICL. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

About ICL Group

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.