120,929 Shares in The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG Purchased by Bank of Nova Scotia

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 120,929 shares of The Ensign Group in the second quarter, worth approximately $19.4 million, giving it a 0.21% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 96.12% of ENSG.
• The Ensign Group reported quarterly EPS of $1.92, beating estimates of $1.80, while revenue reached $1.44 billion, up 16.7% year over year. The company provided fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $7.75–$7.85.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with four Buy ratings and two Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $216.25. ENSG recently traded at $179.48, while two directors sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 120,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,385,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.21% of The Ensign Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in The Ensign Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $937,218,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the 4th quarter valued at $134,660,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $78,840,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $65,470,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,278,324 shares of the company's stock worth $365,215,000 after purchasing an additional 220,329 shares during the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Ensign Group news, Director Barry M. Smith sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.28, for a total transaction of $114,996.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,352 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,706.56. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John O. Agwunobi sold 392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $67,055.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,625,583.18. This represents a 3.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 4.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ENSG. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $228.00 price target on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of The Ensign Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of The Ensign Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on The Ensign Group from $202.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.25.

The Ensign Group Price Performance

NASDAQ ENSG opened at $179.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.11 and a 200-day moving average of $184.50. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.58 and a 1-year high of $218.00.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 6.90%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-7.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The Ensign Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.08%.

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.

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