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

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th,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 by an average of 10.9% per year over the last three years. Intercontinental Exchange has a dividend payout ratio of 25.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Performance

Shares of ICE opened at $166.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $153.35 and its 200-day moving average is $156.93. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $124.34 and a 12-month high of $169.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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 report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.80.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $932,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 156,163 shares in the company, valued at $24,986,080. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher Scott Edmonds sold 601 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $88,785.73. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,908,967.06. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,795 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,572. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.