The Ensign Group, Inc. $ENSG Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jul 28th, 2026

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of The Ensign Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSG – Free Report) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 185,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,242 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in The Ensign Group were worth $37,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENSG. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in The Ensign Group by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,569,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $795,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750,645 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of The Ensign Group in the 4th quarter worth about $134,660,000. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Ensign Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $78,840,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of The Ensign Group by 6.0% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in The Ensign Group by 264.9% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 259,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,373,000 after acquiring an additional 188,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Ensign Group

In related news, Director Barry M. Smith sold 700 shares of The Ensign Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.28, for a total transaction of $114,996.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,352 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,706.56. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ENSG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of The Ensign Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research cut The Ensign Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on The Ensign Group from $215.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered The Ensign Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of The Ensign Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Ensign Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on ENSG

Key The Ensign Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting The Ensign Group this week:

Positive Sentiment: Ensign reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.92, exceeding the $1.80 consensus estimate and rising 20.8% year over year. GAAP diluted EPS was $1.68, up 16.7%, while revenue increased 17.3% to $1.44 billion. Ensign Group Q2 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
Positive Sentiment: Management raised 2026 guidance to $7.75–$7.85 EPS from $7.48–$7.62 and revenue of $5.87–$5.92 billion from $5.81–$5.86 billion. The EPS midpoint is above the reported $7.41 consensus estimate, signaling confidence in continued growth. Ensign Signals Confidence with Higher 2026 Outlook
Positive Sentiment: Operating trends were favorable: same-facility occupancy reached 84.1%, skilled-mix revenue rose 10.1%, and the company added 20 operations. Ensign also reported $262.3 million in cash, $591.6 million of credit capacity, and continued its quarterly $0.065 dividend. The Ensign Group Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
Neutral Sentiment: The reported analyst consensus price target is $213.50, implying potential upside based on recent trading levels, but only limited analyst coverage was cited. A results conference call is scheduled for July 29.
Negative Sentiment: Kaplan Fox and Rosen Law Firm announced investigations into possible securities-law violations and allegedly misleading investor communications. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they could increase legal, reputational, and shareholder-litigation risk. Kaplan Fox Ensign Investigation
Negative Sentiment: Management cautioned that guidance depends on acquisitions closing, reimbursement rates, insurance costs, and improving recently acquired facilities, many of which have below-average occupancy and operational challenges.

The Ensign Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ENSG opened at $178.07 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.89. The company has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.69. The Ensign Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.58 and a 12-month high of $218.00.

The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.12. The Ensign Group had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 6.89%.The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. The Ensign Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.750-7.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Ensign Group, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

The Ensign Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The Ensign Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

The Ensign Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG)

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