Legal & General Group Plc Sells 21,671 Shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in The Ensign Group by 18.7% in Q4, selling 21,671 shares and leaving it with 93,967 shares valued at about $16.4 million.
• The Ensign Group posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.85 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 18.4% year over year to $1.39 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $216.75, even as some analysts recently adjusted ratings.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG - Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,967 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,671 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.16% of The Ensign Group worth $16,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group in the third quarter valued at about $78,840,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 339,534 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 199,983 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 135,173.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 150,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,157,000 after buying an additional 150,043 shares during the period. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $230.00 target price on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Ensign Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of The Ensign Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $222.00 price target (up from $206.00) on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Four 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 company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.75.

The Ensign Group Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of ENSG opened at $165.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.79 and a 12 month high of $218.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $187.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.09.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during 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 was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.480-7.620 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The Ensign Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.23%.

Insider Activity at The Ensign Group

In other news, Director John O. Agwunobi sold 392 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,858,721.15. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Barry M. Smith sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.21, for a total transaction of $127,547.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,018,094.92. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,892 shares of company stock valued at $363,250. Company 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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