Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

AFYA has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Afya in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (down from $24.50) on shares of Afya in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America downgraded Afya from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $17.00 in a 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Afya to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.30.

Afya Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Afya stock opened at $14.94 on Tuesday. Afya has a 1 year low of $13.00 and a 1 year high of $19.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Afya Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 433.0%. Afya’s payout ratio is 45.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Afya

In other Afya news, CEO Virgilio Deloy Capobian Gibbon sold 20,900 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,190 shares of company stock worth $721,821. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFYA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Afya by 167.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 45,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 28,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Afya by 85.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 23,961 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Afya during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $117,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Afya by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 68,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Afya during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.02% of the company’s stock.

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.