Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 46,481 Shares of ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL - Free Report) by 83.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,481 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in ICL Group were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ICL. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of ICL Group by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in ICL Group by 754.0% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 7,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 223.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 10,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 7,405 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ICL Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut ICL Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ICL traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.44. 168,224 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 807,289. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $6.31 and a 200 day moving average of $5.73. ICL Group Ltd has a 1 year low of $3.79 and a 1 year high of $6.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.15.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. ICL Group had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. On average, analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.0403 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. This is a positive change from ICL Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. ICL Group's dividend payout ratio is 51.61%.

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.