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

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in ICL Group Ltd. (NYSE:ICL) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,174,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 191,902 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.09% of ICL Group worth $6,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of ICL Group in the first quarter worth about $54,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in ICL Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in ICL Group in the first quarter valued at about $62,000. 13.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ICL shares. Barclays dropped 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 cut ICL Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ICL Group in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ICL Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

ICL Group Stock Up 1.7%

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

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

ICL Group Increases Dividend

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

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.