ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Stock Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• ICL Group shares moved above their 50-day moving average, trading at $5.5250 versus the $5.39 average, with about 1.27 million shares changing hands.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $6.00 target price, while Barclays lowered its target from $7.00 to $6.00 and Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to “Buy.”
• ICL exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.0581 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.23 dividend and a 4.2% yield.

ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.39 and traded as high as $5.56. ICL Group shares last traded at $5.5250, with a volume of 1,267,622 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ICL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ICL Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.00.

ICL Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.47. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 0.98.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.01 billion. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 3.95%. Research analysts predict that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.0581 per share. This is a positive change from ICL Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. ICL Group's payout ratio is 70.83%.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ICL. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in ICL Group by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 109,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 37,913 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in ICL Group in the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in ICL Group in the second quarter worth approximately $187,000. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its stake in ICL Group by 27.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 85,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 18,279 shares during the period. Finally, Plan A Wealth LLC grew its stake in ICL Group by 21.0% in the second quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 46,141 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 8,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.38% of the company's stock.

About ICL Group

ICL Group Ltd. NYSE: ICL is a global specialty minerals and chemicals company headquartered in Israel. The company develops, produces and markets mineral-based products used in agriculture, food, engineered materials and industrial applications.

ICL's portfolio includes potash and phosphate fertilizers, specialty fertilizers, crop nutrition products and agriculture-focused solutions. It also produces bromine and bromine-based compounds, phosphates, potash-derived industrial materials and specialty chemicals used in areas such as flame retardants, water treatment, food ingredients and energy storage.

The company traces its origins to Israel's mineral resources and operates production, research, sales and distribution activities across multiple regions, including Israel, Europe, North America, South America and Asia.

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