ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.46 and traded as high as $5.64. ICL Group shares last traded at $5.5950, with a volume of 1,442,829 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised ICL Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, ICL Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.23.

ICL Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.11.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 7.24% and a net margin of 5.23%. Analysts expect that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd were paid a $0.048 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. ICL Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MAI Capital Management increased its position in ICL Group by 2,055.0% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 4,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in ICL Group by 23.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 2nd quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

About ICL Group

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.