The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Stephens in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.79% from the stock’s previous close.

ENSG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on The Ensign Group from $112.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on The Ensign Group from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Ensign Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.60.

The Ensign Group Price Performance

ENSG stock opened at $118.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The Ensign Group has a 52-week low of $87.14 and a 52-week high of $127.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $122.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.29. The company has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.94.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company had revenue of $980.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.13 million. Analysts predict that The Ensign Group will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Christopher R. Christensen sold 10,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.56, for a total transaction of $1,269,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 147,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,328,344. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other The Ensign Group news, Chairman Christopher R. Christensen sold 10,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.56, for a total transaction of $1,269,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 147,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,328,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Beverly B. Wittekind sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.65, for a total value of $1,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,994.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,245 shares of company stock worth $10,579,862 in the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Ensign Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ENSG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the fourth quarter valued at $65,050,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,621,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $743,042,000 after buying an additional 310,182 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,620,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,031,000 after buying an additional 221,838 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 25.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 725,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,379,000 after buying an additional 147,698 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the third quarter valued at $13,578,000. 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.