ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Sets New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $7.04 and last traded at $6.98, with a volume of 1926050 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays upped their price target on ICL Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut ICL Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

ICL Group Stock Down 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.87. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.13.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that ICL Group Ltd will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.0426 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is a positive change from ICL Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. ICL Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.61%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ICL. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the fourth quarter worth $117,000. Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its position in shares of ICL Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 20,551,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $101,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,357 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ICL Group during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company's stock.

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.