The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.60.

ENSG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $215.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group set a $230.00 price target on The Ensign Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Stephens boosted their price objective on The Ensign Group from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised The Ensign Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John O. Agwunobi sold 246 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.82, for a total transaction of $44,235.72. Following the sale, the director owned 9,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,660,278.06. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Suzanne D. Snapper sold 8,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.48, for a total value of $1,606,015.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 277,462 shares in the company, valued at $53,960,809.76. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 27,473 shares of company stock worth $5,147,297 over the last ninety days. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Ensign Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 156.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in The Ensign Group by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in The Ensign Group by 125.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in The Ensign Group by 638.7% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

The Ensign Group Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of ENSG opened at $210.64 on Friday. The Ensign Group has a 52-week low of $118.73 and a 52-week high of $216.92. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $183.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.17. 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 Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. The Ensign Group had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.410-7.610 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Ensign Group will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Ensign Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from The Ensign Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. The Ensign Group’s payout ratio is presently 4.45%.

About The Ensign Group

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.