CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of CLEAR Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) gapped down prior to trading 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on YOU shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CLEAR Secure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on CLEAR Secure from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of CLEAR Secure from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CLEAR Secure from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $70.00 price target on shares of CLEAR Secure in a report on Monday, July 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CLEAR Secure currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.29.

CLEAR Secure Trading Down 1.3%

The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.52.

CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $277.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.71 million. CLEAR Secure had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 71.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that CLEAR Secure, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

CLEAR Secure Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at CLEAR Secure

In related news, President Michael Z. Barkin sold 11,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $514,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 11,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,750. This trade represents a 49.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle McLaughlin sold 4,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.47, for a total transaction of $200,070.53. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 18,047 shares of company stock valued at $808,615 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 29.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CLEAR Secure

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CLEAR Secure during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,270,000. Ashford Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CLEAR Secure by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 533,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,816,000 after acquiring an additional 263,218 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of CLEAR Secure by 260.8% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 879,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,837,000 after acquiring an additional 635,400 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of CLEAR Secure during the 2nd quarter valued at $82,542,000. Finally, Future Fund LLC bought a new stake in shares of CLEAR Secure during the 4th quarter valued at $1,270,000. 73.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.