Short Interest in Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) Drops By 17.2%

Clear Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,210,000 shares, a decline of 17.2% from the October 31st total of 17,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days. Approximately 18.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clear Secure

In related news, CAO Dennis W. Liu sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.05, for a total value of $46,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,901.55. This trade represents a 17.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kenneth L. Cornick sold 250,000 shares of Clear Secure stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total value of $8,075,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 901,500 shares of company stock worth $29,055,829 in the last three months. 37.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Clear Secure by 232.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 115,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after buying an additional 80,569 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in Clear Secure by 667.5% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 213,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,086,000 after acquiring an additional 185,957 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Clear Secure by 402.1% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 30,733 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Clear Secure during the second quarter worth approximately $840,000. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Clear Secure during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,010,000. 73.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on YOU shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Clear Secure from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Clear Secure in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Clear Secure from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Clear Secure in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.67.

Clear Secure Price Performance

Clear Secure stock opened at $26.01 on Monday. Clear Secure has a 1 year low of $16.05 and a 1 year high of $38.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09 and a beta of 1.44.

Clear Secure (NYSE:YOU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.03). Clear Secure had a net margin of 10.93% and a return on equity of 48.28%. The company had revenue of $198.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Clear Secure will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Clear Secure Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This is a positive change from Clear Secure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Clear Secure’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Clear Secure Company Profile

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.