ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Declares Dividend Increase - $0.04 Per Share

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.0426 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This is a 5.7% increase from ICL Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04.

ICL Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 3.5% annually over the last three years. ICL Group has a dividend payout ratio of 34.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect ICL Group to earn $0.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.1%.

ICL Group Stock Performance

Shares of ICL traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $6.63. 521,632 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 815,906. ICL Group has a twelve month low of $3.79 and a twelve month high of $6.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.15. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $6.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ICL. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ICL Group in the 1st quarter worth about $107,000. United Services Automobile Association lifted its stake in ICL Group by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 26,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in ICL Group by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,793 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 5,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in ICL Group by 120.2% in the 1st 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. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICL has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on ICL Group from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded ICL Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

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.