Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Afya Limited (NASDAQ:AFYA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 978,300 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the September 30th total of 865,100 shares. Currently, 11.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 140,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.0 days.

Afya Price Performance

Afya stock opened at $16.78 on Wednesday. Afya has a 12-month low of $14.64 and a 12-month high of $22.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. Afya had a net margin of 18.12% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $155.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.83 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Afya will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Afya

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Afya by 26.9% during the second quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 3,133 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Afya during the third quarter worth about $417,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Afya by 136.9% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 35,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 20,370 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Afya by 19.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 266,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,704,000 after buying an additional 43,800 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Afya by 45.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 291,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,139,000 after buying an additional 90,383 shares during the period. 88.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Afya in a research report on Friday, August 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $19.50 target price for the company.

About Afya

Afya Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a medical education group in Brazil. The company operates through three segments: Undergrad, Continuing Education, and Digital Services. It offers educational products and services, including medical schools, medical residency preparatory courses, graduate courses, and other programs to lifelong medical learners enrolled across its distribution network, as well as to third-party medical schools.