Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.30.

A number of analysts recently commented on AFYA shares. Bank of America cut shares of Afya from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Afya from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target (down from $24.50) on shares of Afya in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Afya from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Afya

In other news, CEO Virgilio Deloy Capobian Gibbon sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.98, for a total transaction of $292,110.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 26,520 shares of company stock valued at $398,094 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Afya during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Afya in the second quarter valued at about $71,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Afya during the second quarter worth about $117,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Afya by 15.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Afya during the second quarter worth about $164,000. 88.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Afya Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AFYA opened at $14.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.20. Afya has a 52-week low of $13.00 and a 52-week high of $19.90.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $147.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.74 million. Afya had a net margin of 20.31% and a return on equity of 18.77%. Analysts expect that Afya will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Afya Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.656 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a yield of 433.0%. Afya’s payout ratio is presently 45.21%.

Afya Company Profile

Afya Ltd. operates as a leading provider of medical education and training services in Brazil. The company offers a comprehensive suite of educational programs that span undergraduate medical degrees, residency exam preparation, continuing medical education (CME) and digital learning platforms. Through a network of partner institutions and its own campus operations, Afya supports students at every stage of the medical training continuum, from enrollment in medical schools to ongoing professional development for practicing physicians.

At the core of Afya’s offerings is its undergraduate medical program, delivered through a combination of in-person courses at affiliated campuses and fully digital curricula.