ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL) Short Interest Update

ICL Group Ltd (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a decline of 22.8% from the December 15th total of 2,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 797,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ICL Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in ICL Group in the third quarter valued at about $6,689,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in ICL Group by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 591,187 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,513,000 after buying an additional 232,842 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group during the third quarter worth about $56,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in ICL Group by 9.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,335,527 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,676,000 after purchasing an additional 120,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,967,000. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded ICL Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

ICL Group Price Performance

ICL stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.74. 288,812 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 799,103. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $4.84 and its 200 day moving average is $4.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.91. ICL Group has a 12-month low of $3.79 and a 12-month high of $5.79.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.03. ICL Group had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 5.83%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ICL Group will post 0.37 EPS for the current year.

ICL Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a $0.0133 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. ICL Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

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.