Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Bedell upgraded IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) to Buy from Hold saying shares have underperformed peers CME Group (CME) and NASDAQ (NDAQ) by almost 1,000 basis points over the past eight months. Bedell thinks ICE shares can appreciate near the pace of the company's earnings growth, which he estimates at 15% for 2016. The analyst raised his price target for the stock to $252 from $247. The owner of the New York Stock Exchange closed yesterday up $2.57 to $224.43.

BofA raised the firm's price target on CME Group to $216 from $209 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares after the company reported adjusted EPS that beat the firm's estimate and the consensus due to lighter compensation expense. While CME demonstrated its ability to drive volumes against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop with multi-year lows in volatility, soft pricing detracted from the favorable volume result, says the analyst, who also highlights "buyside skepticism" of CME's ability to defend its share in rates futures from BGC's FMX platform.

The Board of Directors of Nasdaq has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share on the company's outstanding common stock, a 9% increase from the previous quarter. The dividend is payable on June 28, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 14, 2024. Future declarations of quarterly dividends and the establishment of future record and payment dates are subject to approval by the Board of Directors.

Reports Q1 revenues $1.12B, consensus $1.11B. Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO said, "Nasdaq delivered another quarter of solid results, with double digit revenue growth in our Solutions businesses including strong Financial Technology results and exceptional Index performance. We continue to make progress on our Integrate, Innovate, and Accelerate strategic priorities with ongoing momentum across our integration work streams and the One Nasdaq go-to-market strategy. As we look toward the remainder of the year, we are well positioned to deliver on our next phase of scalable, profitable, and durable growth."

Barclays analyst Benjamin Budish raised the firm's price target on CME Group to $228 from $226 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The company's Q1 earnings beat by 1%, driven by both better than expected revenues and lower than expected costs, and the tone of the call was positive, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Reports Q1 revenue $1.49B, consensus $1.48B. "CME Group adjusted net income and earnings per share reached new records in Q1 as investors turned to our markets to manage through the ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty in today's marketplace," said Terry Duffy, CME Group Chairman and CEO. "Average daily volume in our U.S. Treasury futures and options grew 12% year over year, reaching a new all-time high of 7.8 million contracts per day. Additionally, ADV in our commodities markets increased 14% to 4.7 million contracts. Looking ahead, we remain committed to providing the deep liquidity and unparalleled capital efficiencies our clients rely on as they continue to navigate a wide range of risks across asset classes."