Candriam S.C.A. Sells 11,319 Shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,319 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.12% of The Ensign Group worth $12,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENSG. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in The Ensign Group by 638.7% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 1,009.5% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 1,128.6% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in The Ensign Group by 872.4% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 282 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ENSG has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised The Ensign Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Stephens lifted their price target on The Ensign Group from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $222.00 price objective (up previously from $206.00) on shares of The Ensign Group in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $215.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.60.

Insider Activity at The Ensign Group

In other news, Director John O. Agwunobi sold 146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.31, for a total transaction of $26,033.26. Following the sale, the director owned 9,087 shares in the company, valued at $1,620,302.97. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Suzanne D. Snapper sold 4,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.11, for a total transaction of $896,811.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 272,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,516,261.79. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 34,931 shares of company stock worth $6,419,591 in the last ninety days. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Ensign Group Stock Performance

Shares of ENSG opened at $203.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $178.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.01. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.73 and a 52 week high of $204.53.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 6.80%.The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.410-7.610 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Ensign Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from The Ensign Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The Ensign Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.45%.

The Ensign Group Profile

The Ensign Group, Inc is a diversified provider of post-acute healthcare services in the United States, operating a network of skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living, home health and hospice care centers. The company’s model emphasizes integrated care by employing multidisciplinary teams—including nursing staff, therapists and physicians—to deliver personalized rehabilitation and long-term care services for seniors and other patients recovering from injury, illness or surgery.

Through its owned and managed centers, The Ensign Group offers a broad spectrum of rehabilitation services such as physical, occupational and speech therapy.