Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $18.08, but opened at $18.99. Clear Secure shares last traded at $16.64, with a volume of 1,686,148 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from Clear Secure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Clear Secure’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YOU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Clear Secure in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Clear Secure from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Clear Secure in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.40.

Clear Secure Stock Down 8.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.74 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.73.

Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Clear Secure had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 4.58%. The company had revenue of $170.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Clear Secure, Inc. will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clear Secure

In other news, insider Richard N. Jr. Patterson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,727 shares in the company, valued at $834,540. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 39.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Clear Secure by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,641,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,342,000 after buying an additional 811,586 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clear Secure by 184.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,071,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,791,000 after purchasing an additional 695,418 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Clear Secure by 258.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 440,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,394,000 after purchasing an additional 317,934 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Clear Secure during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,322,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Clear Secure by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,460,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,363,000 after buying an additional 211,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.80% of the company’s stock.

About Clear Secure

Clear Secure, Inc operates a secure identity platform under the CLEAR brand name primarily in the United States. Its secure identity platform is a multi-layered infrastructure consisting of front-end, including enrollment, verification, and linking, as well as back-end. The company also offers CLEAR Plus, a consumer aviation subscription service, which enables access to predictable entry lanes in airport security checkpoints, as well as access to broader network; and CLEAR mobile app, which is used to enroll new members and improve the experience for existing members.