Boston Partners Invests $1.27 Million in ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL)

Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 256,636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,306,997 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,873,000 after acquiring an additional 8,848 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 78,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 25,992 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ICL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com lowered ICL Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

ICL Group Stock Performance

ICL opened at $5.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. ICL Group Ltd has a 12-month low of $3.79 and a 12-month high of $6.57.

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

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.0403 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. ICL Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

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.