ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares gapped up — ICL opened at $5.63 versus the prior close of $5.18 and was trading around $5.52, up about 6.8% on roughly 717,761 shares.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating with a $6.10 price target after recent downgrades (including Wall Street Zen cutting buy→hold).
• Quarterly results showed EPS of $0.09 meeting estimates but revenue of $1.70B missed forecasts of $1.77B, and the company paid a reduced quarterly dividend of $0.0465 (annualized $0.19, 3.4% yield) with a payout ratio around 82%.

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.18, but opened at $5.63. ICL Group shares last traded at $5.5160, with a volume of 717,761 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ICL shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ICL Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut ICL Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.10.

ICL Group Trading Up 6.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 3.16%. On average, analysts expect that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0465 per share. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. ICL Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICL Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ICL. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new stake in shares of ICL Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in ICL Group by 12.7% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 50,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 5,668 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in ICL Group by 6.4% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 342,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 20,664 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in ICL Group during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in ICL Group by 12.5% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,221 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.38% of the company's stock.

About ICL Group

ICL Group is a global specialty minerals and chemicals company headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Established in its current form through the consolidation of Israeli government–owned chemical operations, ICL has evolved into a publicly traded entity on the New York Stock Exchange NYSE: ICL. The company's origins date back to state-driven mineral extraction in the Negev and the Dead Sea region, and over the decades it has grown through strategic acquisitions, technological innovation and a gradual privatization process completed in the early 2010s.

ICL's core operations are organized into three principal business areas.

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