Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Lowered to Hold at ValuEngine

ValuEngine downgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

ICE has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, November 1st. Citigroup set a $80.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Co boosted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $92.00 target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, November 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $85.78.

NYSE ICE traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.50. 7,395,589 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,099,919. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $42.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.47. Intercontinental Exchange has a 52-week low of $67.70 and a 52-week high of $82.65.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.02. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 31.68% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Intercontinental Exchange’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.74%.

Intercontinental Exchange declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 31st that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

In other news, General Counsel Andrew J. Surdykowski sold 1,200 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.14, for a total transaction of $96,168.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Charles A. Vice sold 35,000 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.10, for a total value of $2,698,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 420,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,390,172.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 108,700 shares of company stock worth $8,408,568. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intercontinental Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 432.8% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Ruggie Capital Group acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Sontag Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 89.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc operates regulated exchanges, clearing houses, and listings venues for financial and commodity markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Asia, Israel, and Canada. It operates through two segments, Trading and Clearing; and Data and Listings. The company operates marketplaces for listing, trading, and clearing an array of derivatives and securities contracts across various asset classes, including energy and agricultural commodities, interest rates, equities, equity and credit derivatives, exchange traded funds, bonds, and currencies.

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