Ashford Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in CLEAR Secure, Inc. $YOU

Ashford Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CLEAR Secure, Inc. (NYSE:YOU) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 270,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,473,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YOU. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CLEAR Secure in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,270,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in CLEAR Secure by 1.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,063,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,245,000 after buying an additional 35,304 shares during the last quarter. Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new stake in CLEAR Secure in the third quarter valued at about $907,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in CLEAR Secure by 210.8% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 61,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after buying an additional 41,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in CLEAR Secure by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 129,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,526,000 after buying an additional 34,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.80% of the company’s stock.

CLEAR Secure Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of YOU stock opened at $52.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.15 and a 200 day moving average of $44.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.62 and a beta of 1.08. CLEAR Secure, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.06 and a twelve month high of $62.73.

CLEAR Secure (NYSE:YOU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $253.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.38 million. CLEAR Secure had a return on equity of 68.98% and a net margin of 13.01%.CLEAR Secure’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CLEAR Secure, Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CLEAR Secure Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. CLEAR Secure’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Insider Activity at CLEAR Secure

In related news, insider Jonathan Schlegel sold 4,412 shares of CLEAR Secure stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $260,396.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kyle Mclaughlin sold 8,000 shares of CLEAR Secure stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.20, for a total value of $449,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,658,967.80. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,962 shares of company stock worth $1,360,146. 39.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on YOU. Weiss Ratings upgraded CLEAR Secure from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded CLEAR Secure from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $60.00 price target on CLEAR Secure in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CLEAR Secure from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on CLEAR Secure from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

About CLEAR Secure

CLEAR Secure, Inc operates a biometric identity platform designed to expedite identity verification for air travelers and venue guests. The company’s core offering is the CLEAR membership service, which uses fingerprint and iris scans to confirm a member’s identity and provide access to dedicated security lanes at participating airports. Members link government-issued IDs and personal biometric data via the CLEAR app, enabling faster processing through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints and select event entrances.

Founded in 2010 by Caryn Seidman‐Becker and Ken Cornick, CLEAR is headquartered in New York City.