Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 40,312 Shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in The Ensign Group by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 40,312 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 257,425 shares.
• The stock continues to draw strong institutional interest, with several large investors boosting positions and 96.12% of shares held by institutions overall.
• Ensign reported quarterly EPS of $1.85, beating estimates, while revenue grew 18.4% year over year; analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a $216.75 average price target.

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,425 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 40,312 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.44% of The Ensign Group worth $44,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ENSG. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,569,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $795,964,000 after buying an additional 1,750,645 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the third quarter valued at about $78,840,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 195.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 513,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,688,000 after purchasing an additional 339,534 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 6.0% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,558,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,961,000 after purchasing an additional 199,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,016,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,322,000 after purchasing an additional 136,260 shares during the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ENSG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $230.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Truist Financial set a $215.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of The Ensign Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Ensign Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Ensign Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.75.

The Ensign Group Stock Performance

Shares of ENSG stock opened at $177.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.79 and a 52 week high of $218.00. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $195.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.90.

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

The Ensign Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The Ensign Group's payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

Insider Activity at The Ensign Group

In other The Ensign Group news, Director Daren Shaw sold 1,000 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.43, for a total value of $213,430.00. Following the sale, the director owned 23,726 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,063,840.18. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 directly owned 9,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,721.15. This represents a 4.05% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,242 shares of company stock worth $862,154. Insiders own 4.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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