Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Increases Stake in The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) by 95.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,626 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,231 shares during the quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in The Ensign Group were worth $1,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in The Ensign Group by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,558,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,961,000 after acquiring an additional 199,983 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 96.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,818,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382,035 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,016,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,322,000 after purchasing an additional 136,260 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,085,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,516,000 after purchasing an additional 8,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the second quarter worth about $105,400,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

The Ensign Group Trading Down 0.9%

ENSG opened at $201.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $198.97 and a 200 day moving average of $184.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.73 and a 12 month high of $218.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.83.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 6.80%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.410-7.610 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The Ensign Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Ensign Group news, Director John O. Agwunobi sold 146 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,620,302.97. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daren Shaw sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.43, for a total transaction of $213,430.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,726 shares in the company, valued at $5,063,840.18. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 17,073 shares of company stock valued at $3,333,390 over the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ENSG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised The Ensign Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research raised The Ensign Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group set a $230.00 target price on The Ensign Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $215.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $204.60.

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.