Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 10th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th.

Intercontinental Exchange has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.9% annually over the last three years. Intercontinental Exchange has a payout ratio of 25.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Intercontinental Exchange to earn $7.37 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 26.1%.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of ICE opened at $166.96 on Wednesday. Intercontinental Exchange has a twelve month low of $124.34 and a twelve month high of $169.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.19.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 23.42%. Equities analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ICE shares. StockNews.com raised Intercontinental Exchange from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $178.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $179.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 10,580 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.47, for a total transaction of $1,761,252.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,992 shares in the company, valued at $3,661,008.24. The trade was a 32.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 156,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,986,080. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,358 shares of company stock valued at $5,535,650 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

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.