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

Key Points

• ICL Group shares fell 5.2% to a new 52-week low of $4.63, trading below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain cautious: the stock has an average “Hold” rating and a $6.00 price target, while Barclays reduced its target from $7.00 to $6.00.
• Despite the stock decline, ICL beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.0581 per share, representing an annualized yield of roughly 5.0%.

Shares of ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $4.63 and last traded at $4.6450, with a volume of 1,261,356 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $4.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ICL. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ICL Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Stock Down 5.2%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.03.

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

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.0581 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. 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 5.0%. ICL Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.83%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICL. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 22,040,479 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $112,812,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502,702 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ICL Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 29,770,104 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $152,333,000 after buying an additional 1,081,641 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 19,616,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $100,349,000 after buying an additional 877,644 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,856,439 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,615,000 after buying an additional 617,801 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in ICL Group by 49.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,115,720 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,779,000 after acquiring an additional 370,457 shares during the last quarter. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ICL Group Company Profile

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.

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