Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU)

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on YOU. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Clear Secure from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Clear Secure from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Clear Secure from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Clear Secure in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

Clear Secure Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YOU opened at $27.85 on Friday. Clear Secure has a 52 week low of $16.05 and a 52 week high of $38.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.03 and its 200-day moving average is $24.94.

Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $198.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.62 million. Clear Secure had a return on equity of 43.77% and a net margin of 10.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Clear Secure will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Clear Secure Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This is a boost from Clear Secure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Clear Secure’s dividend payout ratio is 58.14%.

Insider Activity at Clear Secure

In other news, insider Richard N. Jr. Patterson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.04, for a total transaction of $202,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,698.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Richard N. Jr. Patterson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.04, for a total transaction of $202,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $722,698.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alclear Investments Ii, Llc sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.08, for a total transaction of $5,112,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,164,435 shares of company stock valued at $36,610,377 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 37.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Clear Secure during the first quarter worth about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Clear Secure during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Clear Secure in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clear Secure during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Clear Secure during the third quarter worth $90,000. 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.