Texas Permanent School Fund Trims Stock Holdings in The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 8th, 2023

Texas Permanent School Fund decreased its stake in The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG – Get Rating) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,301 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,468 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund owned approximately 0.07% of The Ensign Group worth $3,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group during the third quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 96.3% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 51.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Ensign Group during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ENSG shares. StockNews.com lowered The Ensign Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their price target on The Ensign Group from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on The Ensign Group from $102.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on The Ensign Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.80.

Insider Transactions at The Ensign Group

In other news, CFO Suzanne D. Snapper sold 35,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.07, for a total value of $3,532,871.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 221,884 shares in the company, valued at $22,203,931.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Suzanne D. Snapper sold 9,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $940,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 221,884 shares in the company, valued at $22,188,400. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Suzanne D. Snapper sold 35,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.07, for a total value of $3,532,871.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 221,884 shares in the company, valued at $22,203,931.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 112,185 shares of company stock worth $11,029,881. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Ensign Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:ENSG opened at $92.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.02. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.29 and a 1 year high of $102.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $809.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $802.31 million. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

The Ensign Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a $0.058 dividend. This represents a $0.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. The Ensign Group’s payout ratio is 5.60%.

About The Ensign Group

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The Ensign Group, Inc engages in providing skilled nursing, senior living, and rehabilitative care services. It operates through the Skilled Services and Standard Bearer segments. The Skilled Services segments includes the operation of skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation therapy services. The Standard Bearer segment refers to the leasing to skilled nursing and senior living operations.