Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.32 Per Share

Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) declared a dividend on Thursday, March 21st, NASDAQ reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share on Monday, April 8th. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 29th. This is a positive change from Clear Secure’s previous dividend of $0.25.

Clear Secure has a payout ratio of 34.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Clear Secure to earn $0.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.9%.

Clear Secure Trading Up 8.6 %

YOU traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.50. 2,858,792 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,923,558. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.70. Clear Secure has a 1-year low of $15.28 and a 1-year high of $27.93. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 68.33 and a beta of 1.52.

Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Clear Secure had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 4.58%. The firm had revenue of $170.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. Clear Secure’s revenue was up 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Clear Secure will post 0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet raised Clear Secure from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Clear Secure

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YOU. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clear Secure by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 899 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Clear Secure by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clear Secure in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clear Secure by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 505,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,598,000 after buying an additional 38,299 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clear Secure by 143.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,258,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,601,000 after buying an additional 1,920,329 shares during the period. 64.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.