CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) Shares Climb 3.6% – Still a Buy?

CLEAR Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) shares shot up 3.6% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $39.75 and last traded at $41.03. Approximately 114,847 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 1,659,812 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded CLEAR Secure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CLEAR Secure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CLEAR Secure from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $70.00 target price on shares of CLEAR Secure in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of CLEAR Secure from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.29.

CLEAR Secure Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 1.04.

CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $277.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.71 million. CLEAR Secure had a return on equity of 71.51% and a net margin of 14.78%.CLEAR Secure’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that CLEAR Secure, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

CLEAR Secure Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. CLEAR Secure’s payout ratio is 40.82%.

Insider Activity at CLEAR Secure

In other CLEAR Secure news, CAO Dennis Liu sold 2,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.47, for a total value of $93,564.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,738.90. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President Michael Barkin sold 11,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $514,980.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 11,550 shares in the company, valued at $519,750. The trade was a 49.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,047 shares of company stock worth $808,615 in the last three months. Insiders own 29.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CLEAR Secure

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YOU. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in CLEAR Secure during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $82,542,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of CLEAR Secure during the 2nd quarter worth about $47,722,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in CLEAR Secure in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,500,000. Ashford Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in CLEAR Secure in the 4th quarter valued at $9,473,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of CLEAR Secure by 32.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 349,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,913,000 after acquiring an additional 86,430 shares in the last quarter. 73.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CLEAR Secure Company Profile

Clear Secure, Inc, operating under the CLEAR brand, is an identity technology company that provides secure, biometric-enabled services for verifying individuals. Its platform uses information such as biometrics and government-issued identification to create a reusable identity profile, helping members move through participating locations more efficiently while supporting organizations with identity verification and access control.

The company’s consumer offering includes CLEAR Plus, a membership service that allows eligible travelers to use dedicated identity-verification lanes at participating airports.