Insider Selling: The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) Director Sells $127,547.00 in Stock

The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) Director Barry Smith sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.21, for a total value of $127,547.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,052 shares in the company, valued at $4,018,094.92. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

The Ensign Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of ENSG stock opened at $171.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.73. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.79 and a 1 year high of $218.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 6.89%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.480-7.620 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. The Ensign Group’s payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ENSG. UBS Group set a $230.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Truist Financial set a $215.00 price target on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 price objective (up from $206.00) on shares of The Ensign Group in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of The Ensign Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Ensign Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.75.

Institutional Trading of The Ensign Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in The Ensign Group by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,569,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $795,964,000 after buying an additional 1,750,645 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position 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 buying an additional 199,983 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in The Ensign Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,016,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,322,000 after buying an additional 136,260 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in The Ensign Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,498,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,107,000 after acquiring an additional 49,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in The Ensign Group by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,332,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,124,000 after acquiring an additional 118,110 shares in the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.