Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,893 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,718 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in The Ensign Group were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Ensign Group during the 1st quarter valued at $905,000. State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 4.5% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in The Ensign Group by 65.7% in the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 37,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,821,000 after acquiring an additional 14,772 shares during the period. Finally, Crow s Nest Holdings LP bought a new position in The Ensign Group during the 1st quarter worth about $56,936,000. Institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ENSG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of The Ensign Group from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of The Ensign Group from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $205.00) on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $206.00 price target (up from $177.00) on shares of The Ensign Group in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Ensign Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.40.

The Ensign Group Price Performance

Shares of ENSG opened at $176.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $180.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.73 and a twelve month high of $193.99. The company has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.85.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 16.77% and a net margin of 6.80%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.480-6.540 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Ensign Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This is a boost from The Ensign Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. The Ensign Group’s dividend payout ratio is 4.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Ensign Group

In other news, VP Beverly B. Wittekind sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $360,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 32,779 shares in the company, valued at $5,900,220. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barry Port sold 28,315 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.71, for a total transaction of $5,116,803.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,206,681.51. The trade was a 33.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,542 shares of company stock valued at $8,888,109. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

The Ensign Group Company 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.