CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

CLEAR Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $41.58, but opened at $39.94. CLEAR Secure shares last traded at $40.8270, with a volume of 239,843 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on YOU. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of CLEAR Secure from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $70.00 target price on CLEAR Secure in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut CLEAR Secure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered CLEAR Secure from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CLEAR Secure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.29.

CLEAR Secure Stock Down 2.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.07 and a 200 day moving average of $51.62.

CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.09. CLEAR Secure had a return on equity of 71.51% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of $277.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. CLEAR Secure’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that CLEAR Secure, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

CLEAR Secure Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. CLEAR Secure’s payout ratio is currently 40.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CLEAR Secure

In other news, CAO Dennis W. Liu sold 2,104 shares of CLEAR Secure stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.47, for a total value of $93,564.88. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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, EVP Kyle McLaughlin sold 4,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.47, for a total transaction of $200,070.53. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,312,709.93. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold a total of 18,047 shares of company stock worth $808,615 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 29.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CLEAR Secure

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of CLEAR Secure by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of CLEAR Secure by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of CLEAR Secure by 3.6% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in CLEAR Secure by 6.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspen Investment Management Inc grew its position in CLEAR Secure by 5.2% during the first quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc now owns 10,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 73.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CLEAR Secure

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.