Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $40.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Clear Secure in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Clear Secure in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $29.20.

Clear Secure Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of YOU traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.85. 2,451,879 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,523,698. Clear Secure has a 1 year low of $15.28 and a 1 year high of $25.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.69 and its 200-day moving average is $19.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.16 and a beta of 1.58.

Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.08. Clear Secure had a return on equity of 32.01% and a net margin of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $186.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Clear Secure will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Clear Secure Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Clear Secure’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.43%.

Insider Activity at Clear Secure

In related news, CAO Dennis W. Liu sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total value of $37,545.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,581.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Richard N. Jr. Patterson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total value of $165,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,732.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Dennis W. Liu sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $37,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,211 shares in the company, valued at $255,581.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 37.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of YOU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Clear Secure by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,571,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,866,000 after buying an additional 1,111,330 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Clear Secure by 56.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,954,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,400 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Clear Secure by 303.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 1,199,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,445,000 after purchasing an additional 902,436 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Clear Secure by 402.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 885,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,564,000 after purchasing an additional 709,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Clear Secure by 184.9% in 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 during the last quarter. 73.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.