ICL Group Ltd. $ICL Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,174,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 191,902 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in ICL Group were worth $6,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ICL Group by 351.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 4,014 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in ICL Group in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in ICL Group in the 1st quarter worth about $62,000. 13.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ICL Group Stock Up 1.7%

ICL Group stock opened at $5.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ICL Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $4.76 and a 1-year high of $6.97.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 7.84%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ICL Group Ltd. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ICL Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a $0.0535 dividend. This is an increase from ICL Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. ICL Group’s payout ratio is presently 80.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ICL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on ICL Group from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

ICL Group Company Profile

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.