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

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given 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 yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th.

Intercontinental Exchange has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.9% annually over the last three years. Intercontinental Exchange has a dividend payout ratio of 25.8% indicating that 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 Down 1.0 %

Shares of ICE traded down $1.66 on Tuesday, reaching $165.46. The stock had a trading volume of 212,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,055,654. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $124.34 and a 12-month high of $169.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.11.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 156,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,986,080. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,661,008.24. The trade was a 32.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,358 shares of company stock valued at $5,535,650. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ICE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.80.

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.