Barclays Lowers ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) Price Target to $6.00

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Barclays from $7.00 to $6.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.74% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on ICL. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ICL Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ICL Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two 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 Price Performance

NYSE ICL opened at $5.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38 and a beta of 0.97. ICL Group has a 52 week low of $4.76 and a 52 week high of $6.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.46.

ICL Group (NYSE:ICL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. ICL Group had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Research analysts predict that ICL Group will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ICL Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ICL Group in the 1st quarter worth $107,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in ICL Group by 120.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,153,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267,245 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in ICL Group by 20.4% in the first quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 26,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of ICL Group by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 5,318 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of ICL Group by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 184,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 47,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.38% of the company’s stock.

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.