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

Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU)’s stock price 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 trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Clear Secure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Clear Secure’s payout ratio is 120.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on YOU shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Clear Secure in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.40.

Clear Secure Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.27 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.73.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Clear Secure in the 1st quarter worth approximately $457,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Clear Secure by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Clear Secure in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Clear Secure by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 150,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,210,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Clear Secure by 302.8% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 33,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 24,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.