Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Eleven analysts give ICE a consensus "Buy" rating (nine buys, one strong buy, one hold) with an average 12‑month price target of $193.80.
• Quarterly results and valuation: ICE beat estimates with $1.71 EPS vs. $1.67 expected and $3.14B revenue (up 7.8% YoY); the stock trades around $158.62 with a market cap of about $89.9B and a P/E of ~27.5.
• Insider activity and ownership: Insiders sold roughly 348,418 shares in the last 90 days (including CEO and president sales) while institutional investors own about 89.3% of the company; ICE also pays a $0.52 quarterly dividend (~1.3% yield).

Shares of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $193.80.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ICE shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $183.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $188.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th.

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

Shares of ICE opened at $158.62 on Friday. Intercontinental Exchange has a 1 year low of $143.17 and a 1 year high of $189.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company's fifty day moving average is $159.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.03.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 26.23% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Intercontinental Exchange's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.05%.

Insider Transactions at Intercontinental Exchange

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, President Benjamin Jackson sold 12,861 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $2,122,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 165,692 shares in the company, valued at $27,339,180. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $23,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,651,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,014,275. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 348,418 shares of company stock valued at $54,196,631 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Intercontinental Exchange by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,153,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,770,647,000 after acquiring an additional 413,639 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 17,398.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 54,107,273 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,763,214,000 after acquiring an additional 53,798,055 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,653,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,154,914,000 after purchasing an additional 837,208 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,875,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,571,212,000 after acquiring an additional 158,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 64.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,354,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,744,480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.30% of the company's stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

Intercontinental Exchange NYSE: ICE is a global operator of exchanges, clearing houses and data services that provides infrastructure for the trading, clearing, settlement and information needs of financial and commodity markets. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey C. Sprecher as an electronic energy trading platform, the company has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to operate a broad portfolio of assets spanning listed equities, futures and options, fixed income, and over-the-counter derivatives.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.