ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Downgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Separately, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of ICL Group from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

ICL Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ICL stock opened at $4.27 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.53. ICL Group has a 1-year low of $3.79 and a 1-year high of $5.72. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in ICL Group by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 44,119,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $189,200,000 after buying an additional 1,360,670 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ICL Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,286,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $136,043,000 after purchasing an additional 392,805 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its position in ICL Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 17,215,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,813,000 after purchasing an additional 465,031 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in ICL Group by 2,927,153.2% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 14,636,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,766,000 after purchasing an additional 14,635,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in ICL Group by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 526,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after purchasing an additional 31,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.