UBS Group Begins Coverage on The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG)

UBS Group began coverage on shares of The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ENSG. Truist Financial lifted their target price on The Ensign Group from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of The Ensign Group from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of The Ensign Group from $167.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of The Ensign Group from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.33.

The Ensign Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ENSG opened at $146.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.85. The Ensign Group has a 12-month low of $104.18 and a 12-month high of $158.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.95.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. The Ensign Group had a net margin of 5.84% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Ensign Group will post 5.02 EPS for the current year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The Ensign Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.81%.

Insider Transactions at The Ensign Group

In other news, CEO Barry Port sold 5,618 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $842,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,057,400. This trade represents a 9.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Ensign Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENSG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,661,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $828,834,000 after purchasing an additional 39,695 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 42.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,995,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,061,000 after purchasing an additional 593,779 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in The Ensign Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,363,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,181,000 after buying an additional 66,314 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in The Ensign Group by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,322,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,577,000 after buying an additional 35,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Ensign Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,110,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,740,000 after buying an additional 10,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

About The Ensign Group

The Ensign Group, Inc provides skilled nursing, senior living, and rehabilitative services. It operates through two segments: Skilled Services and Standard Bearer. The company's Skilled Services segment engages in the operation of skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation therapy services for patients with chronic conditions, prolonged illness, and the elderly; and offers nursing facilities including specialty care, such as on-site dialysis, ventilator care, cardiac, and pulmonary management, as well as standard services comprising room and board, special nutritional programs, social services, recreational activities, entertainment, and other services.