Short Interest in Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Declines By 18.0%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 18% in April to 444,631 shares (short-interest ratio 3.8 days), equal to about 0.5% of the company's stock sold short.
• Insider selling has been active: the VP and CEO sold 16,279 and 20,900 shares respectively, and insiders disposed of 123,547 shares (~$1.85M) over the past three months, leaving insiders with roughly 0.80% ownership.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" rating with a $17.30 price target; Afya beat EPS expectations ($0.41 vs. $0.36) but missed revenue, has a $1.32B market cap and recently paid an annual dividend of $0.656 per share.

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 444,631 shares, a decrease of 18.0% from the March 31st total of 541,994 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 118,513 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Afya

In other news, VP Lelio De Souza Junior sold 16,279 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.53, for a total value of $236,533.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Virgilio Deloy Capobian Gibbon sold 20,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.94, for a total transaction of $312,246.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,631,716.92. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 123,547 shares of company stock worth $1,854,920. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Afya

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFYA. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Afya during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Militia Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Afya in the second quarter worth $71,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Afya in the second quarter worth $117,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Afya by 15.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Afya in the second quarter worth $164,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFYA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Afya to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Afya from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $22.00 price target (down from $24.50) on shares of Afya in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Afya from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.30.

Afya Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:AFYA opened at $14.07 on Thursday. Afya has a 52 week low of $13.00 and a 52 week high of $19.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.55 and a 200 day moving average of $14.65. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.05. Afya had a net margin of 20.31% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The company had revenue of $147.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $174.74 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Afya will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Afya Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.656 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a yield of 433.0%. Afya's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.52%.

About Afya

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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