The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) Short Interest Update

The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, a decrease of 11.2% from the July 15th total of 2,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 341,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on The Ensign Group from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Macquarie assumed coverage on The Ensign Group in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on The Ensign Group from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Ensign Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Ensign Group

In other news, CEO Barry Port sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,716 shares in the company, valued at $7,520,240. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Daren Shaw sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.71, for a total transaction of $283,420.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,125 shares in the company, valued at $4,127,303.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Barry Port sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $420,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,520,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,618 shares of company stock worth $2,140,839 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Ensign Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Evoke Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group during the fourth quarter worth about $4,993,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in The Ensign Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $792,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Ensign Group by 294.7% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 7,262 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in The Ensign Group by 4.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in The Ensign Group by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 64,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,274,000 after buying an additional 32,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

The Ensign Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:ENSG traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $141.92. The company had a trading volume of 154,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,596. The Ensign Group has a fifty-two week low of $90.00 and a fifty-two week high of $147.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $131.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.99.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.02. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 5.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Ensign Group will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

The Ensign Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. The Ensign Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

The Ensign Group Company Profile

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.