Yahoo Finance Ensign Group (ENSG) Unveils Dividend Hike to Reward Shareholders
The Ensign Group, Inc.’s ENSG board of directors recently sanctioned a quarterly dividend hike of nearly 4% in a bid to enhance shareholder value. Consequent to the hike, the payout now stands at 5.75 cents per share compared with the prior payout of 5.55 cents.
The increased dividend will be paid on Jan 31, 2023 to shareholders of record as on Dec 31, 2022.
With the latest hike, ENSG has been continuously rising dividends for two decades. Based on the stock’s Dec 16 closing price of $95.67, its dividend yield stands at 0.23%, better than the industry average of 0.21%.
In addition to annual dividend hikes, Ensign Group also engages in share buybacks. This year to date, management authorized two buyback programs of $20 million each.
The entire amount within the first buyback program, approved on February 9, 2022 under which buybacks could commence the following day, was exhausted by Ensign Group within the second quarter of 2022. It has still not touched the share repurchase program approved in July of this year, pursuant to which ENSG could initiate share buybacks from Aug 2, 2022 and run for a year.
The recent dividend hike coupled with the active pursuit of share buybacks highlights Ensign Group’s sound financial position, substantiated by growing cash reserves and robust cash-generating abilities. It exited the third quarter of 2022 with a cash balance of $308.9 million, which rose 17.8% from the 2021-end level. Also, ENSG generated operating cash flows of $222.3 million in the first nine months of 2022, up 8.7% from the prior-year comparable period.
Another indicator demonstrating Ensign Group’s efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ funds remains its return on equity figure. The metric stood at 19.4% as of Sep 30, 2022, which compares favorably with the industry’s negative figure of 27.4%.
Apart from the tactical deployment of capital, a solid financial position empowers ENSG to follow an aggressive inorganic growth strategy and pursue multiple buyouts in almost every month of 2022.
Shares of Ensign Group have gained 24.2% in a year compared with the industry’s 12.2% growth.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
ENSG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Medical space are Medpace Holdings, Inc. MEDP, ShockWave Medical, Inc. SWAV and Genmab A/S GMAB. While Medpace sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ShockWave Medical and Genmab carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Medpace’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 22.04%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MEDP’s 2022 earnings suggests an improvement of 44.9% from the year-ago reported figure, while the same for revenues indicates growth of 27.1%. The consensus mark for MEDP’s 2022 earnings has moved north by 13.1% in the past 60 days.
The bottom line of ShockWave Medical outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 146.10%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SWAV’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $2.92 per share. A loss of 26 cents per share was reported in the prior year. The consensus mark for SWAV’s 2022 earnings has moved north by 1.4% in the past 30 days.
Genmab’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 66.61%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GMAB’s 2022 earnings suggests an improvement of 83.3% from the year-ago reported figure, while the same for revenues indicates growth of 38.2%. The consensus mark for GMAB’s 2022 earnings has moved north by 2.3% in the past 60 days.
Shares of ShockWave Medical and Genmab have gained 21.1% and 14%, respectively, in a year. However, the Medpace stock has lost 3.6% in the same time frame.
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The Ensign Group, Inc. (ENSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Medpace Holdings, Inc. (MEDP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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