[Investor’s Business Daily] Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE)(TREND ANALYSIS) agreed Monday to buy Interactive Data Corp. from private-equity firms Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a $5.2 billion cash-and-stock deal.
The move gives Intercontinental Exchange more presence in financial data and analytics. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.
Shares of Intercontinental Exchange finished down 0.6% in the stock market today, after rising as much as 2.5% earlier.
Meanwhile, shares of Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE:PNY) closed up 37% after Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) agreed to buy the natural-gas distributor for around $4.9 billion in cash.
“This combination provides us with a growing natural-gas platform, benefitting our customers, communities and investors,” Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good said in a statement. Duke Energy is an electric and natural-gas utility.
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Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) stock is currently trading 2.95% below its 52-week-high, 22.32% above its 52-week-low. The 1-year stock price history is in the range of $202.24 – $254.91. Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) has a price to earnings ratio of 25.56 versus Financial sector average of 16.17. ICE stock price has outperformed the S&P 500 by 11.7%. The Finance company is currently valued at $28.46 billion and its share price closed the last trading session at $247.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $234.28 and a 200-day moving average of $232.41.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) current short interest stands at 1.68 million shares. It has decreased by 6% from the same period of last month. Around 2% of the company’s shares, which are float, are short sold. With a 10-days average volume of 0.68 million shares, the number of days required to cover the short positions stand at 2.5 days.
The company is expected to announce this quarter earnings on October 28, at consensus estimate of $2.91. Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) reported last quarter earnings on August 05. The Finance company announced earnings per share of $2.9 against a consensus Street estimate of $2.77, beating the average estimate by $0.13. This corresponds to an increase of $0.67 compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.
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There are currently sixteen analysts that cover Intercontinental Exchange Inc stock. Of those sixteen, thirteen have a Buy rating, two have a Hold rating and one has a Sell rating. On a consensus basis this yields to an Overweight rating. The consensus target price stands at $263.86.
A recent analyst activity consisted of Barclays reiterating their Overweight stance on September 4. Barclays decreased price target from $274 to $273. This corresponds to a 10.35% upside from the last closing price. On the date of report, the stock closed at $226.07.
From an income perspective, Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) has a dividend yield of 1.21%. The dividend has remained flat over the last 5 years and the payout ratio stands at 21.02%.
Another research firm was Deutsche Bank who upgraded their Hold rating to Buy on July 10. Deutsche Bank increased their price target on Intercontinental Exchange Inc from $247 to $252. This translates to a 1.86% upside from the last closing price. On the date of report, the stock closed at $228.74.
Company Snapshot
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. operates global commodity and financial products marketplaces. The Company operates electronic energy markets and soft commodity exchanges as well. ICE offers access to contracts based on crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions, as well as agricultural commodities including cocoa, coffee, cotton, orange juice, and sugar.
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