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Why Should You Stay Invested in Intercontinental (ICE) Stock?

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Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE - Free Report) compelling portfolio, expansive risk-management services, strategic buyouts, solid balance sheet, effective capital deployment and favorable growth estimates make it worth retaining in one’s portfolio.

Earnings of ICE grew 11.2% in the last five years, better than the industry average of 10.5%. Intercontinental has a solid surprise history, beating earnings estimates in three of the last four reported quarters, the average being 2.07%.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Intercontinental Exchange currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In a year, the stock has gained 19.3%, outperforming the industry’s increase of 8.4%.

Zacks Investment Research
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Growth Projections

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings is pegged at $5.74, indicating an increase of 8.3% year over year on 5.4% higher revenues of $7.7 billion. The consensus estimate for 2024 earnings is pegged at $6.10, implying an upside of 6.4% on 5.6% higher revenues of $8.1 billion. The long-term earnings growth rate is currently pegged at 8.8%, better than the industry average of 7.9%.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The company’s ROE for the trailing 12 months is 13.1%, comparing favorably with the industry’s 11.8% and reflecting the company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ fund. The company targets 15% ROE over the long term.

Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 and 2024 moved 1.6% and 0.2% north in the past 30 days, reflecting analyst optimism.

Growth Drivers

With more than 5,000 indices representing more than $1 trillion in benchmark assets under management, ICE is the second-largest global fixed-income provider.

An expansive and compelling product and service portfolio should continue to fuel top-line improvement. Black Knight acquisition further complements existing revenue streams and improves the mix of high-growth recurring revenues. ICE estimates mid-single digit growth in Fixed Income and Data Services recurring revenues.

ICE, with the largest mortgage network across the United States, should benefit from accelerated digitization in the U.S. residential mortgage industry. Intercontinental projects Mortgage revenues to grow at an average annual rate of 8-10% over the next 10 years, while the Mortgage Technology business is expected to grow in the low to mid-teens. ICE estimates mid- to high-single-digit growth in recurring revenues in the mortgage technology segment in 2023.

Intercontinental has an impressive history of acquisitions, which have not only fueled growth but also helped achieve expense synergies.

A Solid Capital Position

Its healthy and minimal risk-based balance sheet is likely to continue providing stability and buoyancy over the medium to long term while supporting strategic investments.

A solid capital position helps ICE boost shareholders' value by buying back shares and hiking dividends. While ICE has more than doubled its dividends in the last six years, it has $2.5 billion remaining under its authorization kitty.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the finance sector are Axis Capital Holdings Limited (AXS - Free Report) , Chubb Limited (CB - Free Report) and Cincinnati Financial Corporation (CINF - Free Report) . While Axis Capital sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Chubb and Cincinnati Financial carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Axis Capital has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters and missing in one, the average being 9.75%. In the past year, AXS has gained 13.1%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXS’ 2023 and 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $8.41 and $9.31, indicating a year-over-year increase of 44.7% and 10.7%, respectively.

Chubb has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters and missing in one, the average being 3.36%. CB has climbed 15.2% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CB’s 2023 and 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $18.18 and $19.86, indicating a year-over-year increase of 19.2% and 9.2%, respectively.

Cincinnati Financial has a solid track record of beating earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters and missing in one, the average being 25.25%. In the past year, CINF has gained 14%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CINF’s 2023 and 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $5 and $5.88, indicating a year-over-year increase of 17.9% and 17.6%, respectively.

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