Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Announces $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th.

Intercontinental Exchange has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.9% per year over the last three years. Intercontinental Exchange has a payout ratio of 25.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Intercontinental Exchange to earn $6.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.0%.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ICE traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $167.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,135,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,106,266. The firm has a market cap of $95.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1-year low of $124.34 and a 1-year high of $169.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.81.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 12.75%. As a group, research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ICE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $932,480.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 156,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,986,080. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.08, for a total value of $149,056.40. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 44,702 shares in the company, valued at $6,977,088.16. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,795 shares of company stock worth $2,120,572 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, India, Abu Dhabi, Israel, and Canada.