Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Afya a consensus rating of "Hold" (six holds, one buy, one strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $17.30; recent notes include downgrades and target cuts from Bank of America and UBS and upgrades from Wall Street Zen and Zacks.
• In the latest quarter Afya reported EPS of $0.41 (beat $0.36) but revenue of $147.1M missed the $174.7M estimate; the stock trades near $13.91 with a market cap of ~$1.3B, a P/E of 9.53 and a 52‑week range of $13.00–$19.90.
• The company paid an annual dividend of $0.656 per share (reported yield 433.0% and payout ratio 45.21%), while insiders sold about 123,547 shares (~$1.85M) last quarter and institutional ownership is roughly 88%.

Shares of Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.30.

Several analysts have weighed in on AFYA shares. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Afya from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Afya from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Afya in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Afya from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th.

Afya Stock Performance

Afya stock opened at $13.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.66. Afya has a twelve month low of $13.00 and a twelve month high of $19.90.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $147.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.74 million. Afya had a net margin of 20.31% and a return on equity of 18.77%. Research analysts expect that Afya will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Afya Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.656 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 433.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 25th. Afya's dividend payout ratio is 45.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP De Sousa Anibal Jose Grifo sold 14,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.41, for a total transaction of $215,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 31,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $477,710. This represents a 31.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Santos Welder Ferreira sold 3,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.90, for a total transaction of $52,867.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $556,500. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 123,547 shares of company stock valued at $1,854,920.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Afya

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Afya during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Afya during the second quarter valued at about $71,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Afya during the second quarter valued at about $117,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Afya during the second quarter valued at about $164,000. 88.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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