Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $26.28, but opened at $24.50. Clear Secure shares last traded at $25.20, with a volume of 1,159,421 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.04). Clear Secure had a return on equity of 48.28% and a net margin of 10.93%. The company had revenue of $211.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Clear Secure’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Clear Secure Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Clear Secure’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YOU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Clear Secure from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Clear Secure in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Clear Secure in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Clear Secure by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,698,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,519,000 after buying an additional 501,000 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Clear Secure during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,695,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clear Secure during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,697,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Clear Secure by 3,937.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 478,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,866,000 after buying an additional 466,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Clear Secure by 1,557.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 345,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,211,000 after buying an additional 324,314 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.80% of the company’s stock.

Clear Secure Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 1.25.

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.