16,700 Shares in The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 16,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,365,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 54,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,465,000 after purchasing an additional 18,699 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in The Ensign Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,508,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in The Ensign Group by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 56,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,781,000 after purchasing an additional 8,056 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in The Ensign Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 331,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,290,000 after purchasing an additional 7,495 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in The Ensign Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 498,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,131,000 after buying an additional 18,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ENSG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut The Ensign Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Ensign Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of The Ensign Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Ensign Group

In other The Ensign Group news, Director John O. Agwunobi sold 392 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.97, for a total transaction of $78,388.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,721.15. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Barry M. Smith sold 700 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.65, for a total value of $137,655.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,356,190.80. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 2,592 shares of company stock valued at $478,246 over the last quarter. 4.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Ensign Group Stock Down 1.6%

ENSG stock opened at $163.05 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $171.64 and its 200 day moving average is $184.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.79 and a 1-year high of $218.00.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.06. The Ensign Group had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The Ensign Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.480-7.620 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. The Ensign Group’s payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

The Ensign Group Profile

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.