Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn maintained a Buy rating on The Ensign Group (NASDAQ: ENSG) today and set a price target of $43. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $37.04.
Wiederhorn noted:
“ENSG reported Q3:18 adjusted EPS of $0.46 (GAAP: $0.38), vs. OPCO/Street consensus of $0.46/$0.45. Adjusted results primarily exclude $0.04 of goodwill and $0.04 of share-based comp. Same-store revenues (pro forma) grew 4.1% y-y, driven by a combination of occupancy (+50 bps) and rates/mix (blended rates +3.6%). Following the quarter, ENSG tweaked FY2018 EPS guidance to $1.83-1.88 from $1.80-1.87. This implies Q4:18 adj-EPS of $0.47-0.52, compared to OPCO/Street prior estimates of $0.50/$0.50. As a result, we’re tweaking our FY2018/2019 EPS estimates to $1.86/$2.09 from $1.85/$2.08 and our price target to $43 from $42.”
According to TipRanks.com, Wiederhorn is a top 100 analyst with an average return of 15.6% and a 70.3% success rate. Wiederhorn covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Addus Homecare Corp, Community Health, and LifePoint Health.
The word on The Street in general, suggests a Strong Buy analyst consensus rating for The Ensign Group with a $39.83 average price target, a 7.5% upside from current levels. In a report released yesterday, Cantor Fitzgerald also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $42 price target.
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Based on The Ensign Group’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending June 30, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $22.01 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $14.21 million.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 66 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock.
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The Ensign Group, Inc. engages in the provision of healthcare services, as well as urgent care centers and mobile ancillary businesses. It operates through the following segments: Transitional and Skilled Services, Assisted and Independent Living Services, and Home Health and Hospice Services.
