Vest Financial LLC Sells 8,020 Shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC cut its stake in The Ensign Group by 43.3%, selling 8,020 shares in Q4 and leaving it with 10,511 shares worth about $1.83 million.
• Insiders sold 17,173 shares (~$3.38 million) in the last quarter — including Director Barry M. Smith (700 shares) and VP Beverly B. Wittekind (500 shares) — while insiders own 4.0% and institutional investors own about 96.12% of the stock.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.82 vs. $1.75), provided FY2026 guidance of 7.41–7.61 EPS, has a market cap near $10.8 billion, and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $204.60.

Vest Financial LLC cut its holdings in The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG - Free Report) by 43.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,511 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,020 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in The Ensign Group were worth $1,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ENSG. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 732 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Ensign Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the company's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in The Ensign Group by 7.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 911 shares of the company's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in The Ensign Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,337 shares of the company's stock worth $4,065,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in The Ensign Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 96.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barry M. Smith sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.65, for a total transaction of $137,655.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,152 shares in the company, valued at $4,356,190.80. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Beverly B. Wittekind sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.23, for a total transaction of $105,115.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 32,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,891,129.17. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,173 shares of company stock valued at $3,377,311. 4.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Ensign Group Trading Down 1.0%

ENSG opened at $186.40 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $202.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.81. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.32 and a twelve month high of $218.00.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. The Ensign Group had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.410-7.610 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The Ensign Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ENSG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Truist Financial set a $215.00 price objective on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $222.00 price objective (up from $206.00) on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $230.00 price objective on shares of The Ensign Group and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.60.

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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