Creative Planning Buys 1,316 Shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG)

Creative Planning raised its stake in The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG) by 3.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,683 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in The Ensign Group were worth $4,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ENSG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,621,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,042,000 after acquiring an additional 310,182 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,620,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,031,000 after acquiring an additional 221,838 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of The Ensign Group in the second quarter worth about $14,370,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 403,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,224,000 after acquiring an additional 107,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Ensign Group by 11.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 571,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,693,000 after acquiring an additional 59,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ENSG shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of The Ensign Group from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of The Ensign Group from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Macquarie began coverage on shares of The Ensign Group in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Ensign Group news, CEO Barry Port sold 5,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $842,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,057,400. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Spencer Burton sold 7,519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.04, for a total transaction of $1,015,365.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 42,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,756,620.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Barry Port sold 5,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $842,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,057,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,736 shares of company stock worth $3,491,039. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Ensign Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ENSG opened at $145.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.00 and a 1 year high of $154.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.59. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.96.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.02. The Ensign Group had a net margin of 5.68% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

The Ensign Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. The Ensign Group’s payout ratio is 6.32%.

The Ensign Group Company Profile

The Ensign Group, Inc provides skilled nursing, senior living, and rehabilitative services. It operates through two segments: Skilled Services and Standard Bearer. The company's Skilled Services segment engages in the operation of skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation therapy services for patients with chronic conditions, prolonged illness, and the elderly; and offers nursing facilities including specialty care, such as on-site dialysis, ventilator care, cardiac, and pulmonary management, as well as standard services comprising room and board, special nutritional programs, social services, recreational activities, entertainment, and other services.