Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.48 Per Share

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchange’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

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 24.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Intercontinental Exchange to earn $6.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.1%.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock opened at $167.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Intercontinental Exchange has a 12-month low of $124.34 and a 12-month high of $169.75. The company has a market cap of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.74.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last announced 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 net margin of 21.31% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Research analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $190.00 to $189.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intercontinental Exchange has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.27.

Insider Activity at Intercontinental Exchange

In related news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.08, for a total transaction of $149,056.40. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 44,702 shares in the company, valued at $6,977,088.16. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Benjamin Jackson sold 5,828 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $24,986,080. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,795 shares of company stock valued at $2,120,572 over the last ninety days. 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.