ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Given New $7.00 Price Target at Barclays

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $6.00 to $7.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on ICL. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ICL Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.60.

ICL Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ICL opened at $6.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ICL Group has a 1 year low of $4.76 and a 1 year high of $7.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.46 and its 200-day moving average is $5.46.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 7.84%. Equities analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be given a $0.0535 dividend. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. ICL Group’s payout ratio is 70.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICL. Norges Bank bought a new position in ICL Group in the fourth quarter valued at $122,297,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in ICL Group by 96.6% during the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 26,349,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,160,000 after buying an additional 12,946,737 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in ICL Group by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 19,537,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,054,000 after acquiring an additional 5,805,699 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in ICL Group by 120.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,153,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD raised its position in ICL Group by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD now owns 6,060,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481,084 shares in the last quarter. 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.