ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Hits New 12-Month Low - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• ICL Group shares fell to a new 52-week low of $4.76, trading 2.6% lower and below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $6.00; Barclays recently reduced its target from $7.00 to $6.00.
• Despite the stock decline, ICL exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.0581 per share, representing an annualized yield of approximately 4.9%.

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $4.76 and last traded at $4.7550, with a volume of 462,478 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $4.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ICL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded ICL Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ICL Group in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Trading Down 2.6%

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $5.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73 and a beta of 1.03.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 8.40%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.0581 per share. This is a boost from ICL Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.0535. This represents a $0.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 2nd. ICL Group's payout ratio is 70.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 72,816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 2,547 shares during the last quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth $75,000. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth $96,000. Altar Rock LLC bought a new position in shares of ICL Group during the second quarter worth $133,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in ICL Group by 53.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 109,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 37,913 shares in the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ICL Group

ICL Group Ltd. NYSE: ICL is a global specialty minerals and chemicals company headquartered in Israel. Formerly known as Israel Chemicals, the company was established in 1968 and develops, produces and markets mineral-based products for agriculture, food, and industrial applications.

Its agriculture business supplies potash and phosphate-based fertilizers, specialty plant nutrients, and related solutions designed to support crop production. ICL also produces ingredients for the food industry, including specialty phosphates and other functional materials used in food processing and nutrition applications.

The company's industrial products include bromine-based compounds, flame retardants, water-treatment chemicals, and other specialty chemicals.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.