Yahoo Finance Ensign Group (ENSG) Buys Facilities in Arizona & Colorado
The Ensign Group, Inc. ENSG recently purchased the real estate and operations of an Arizona-based 32-bed skilled nursing facility, Wellsprings of Gilbert. This acquisition was completed through a subsidiary of ENSG’s captive real estate entity, Standard Bearer Healthcare REIT, Inc., and took effect on Jun 1, 2024.
The buyout reflects the dual purpose of Ensign Group, which is to further solidify its presence in Arizona and bolster its Standard Bearer portfolio. The Standard Bearer segment, which represents the company’s growing real estate portfolio, engages in triple-net lease arrangements with healthcare operators for post-acute care properties acquired by ENSG. It currently owns 120 real estate assets.
On the same day of announcing the Arizona facility buyout, Ensign Group also announced the acquisition of the operations of another skilled nursing facility in the United States. Based in the state of Colorado, The Springs at St. Andrews Village comprises 58 beds. This buyout came into effect on Jun 1, 2024, under a long-term, triple net lease.
Through the Colorado acquisition, ENSG aims to extend enhanced post-acute care and strengthen its statewide foothold.
Such buyouts provide an opportunity for Ensign Group to follow a collaborative approach with the team of caregivers at the acquired facilities and gain an in-depth understanding of the local communities’ needs. This, in turn, enables ENSG to bring about improved health outcomes for individuals across several communities.
With the recent acquisitions, Ensign's portfolio consists of 312 healthcare operations spread across 14 states. Out of the total, 29 are senior living operations, which lay the perfect ground for ENSG to capitalize on considering an aging U.S. population.
Moves similar to the latest one bring about an increase in the count of skilled nursing facilities as a result of which the healthcare provider can cater to a higher patient base. This, in turn, is likely to drive revenues of the Skilled Services segment, which generates revenues from Medicaid, Medicare, managed care, commercial insurance and private pay. Skilled services revenues rose nearly 14% year over year in the first quarter of 2024.
Acquisitions continue to be a key priority for management when it comes to capital deployment. The company remains on the lookout for opportunistic real estate purchases and aims to lease both thriving and underperforming skilled nursing facilities, assisted living centers and other healthcare-related businesses across the United States.
ENSG has been quite active on the buyout front so far this year. In May, it acquired the operations of two skilled nursing facilities in Tennessee and one healthcare facility each in Kansas, Utah and Iowa. Additionally, it bought the real estate and operations of a long-term acute care hospital in Utah in the same month.
Shares of Ensign Group have gained 8.2% year to date, which matched the industry’s growth. ENSG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the Medical space are Organon & Co. OGN, Enovis Corporation ENOV and Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated LGND. While Organ currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Enovis and Ligand Pharmaceuticals carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Organon’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the last four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 13.62%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OGN’s 2024 earnings indicates a rise of 6.8% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies an improvement of 1.7% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for OGN’s 2024 earnings has moved 4.2% north in the past 60 days.
The bottom line of Enovis outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and matched the mark once, the average surprise being 6.18%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ENOV’s 2024 earnings indicates a rise of 9.2% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies an improvement of 24.7% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for ENOV’s 2024 earnings has moved 1.2% north in the past 30 days.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 56.02%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LGND’s 2024 earnings indicates a rise of 16% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies an improvement of 6% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for LGND’s 2024 earnings has moved 3.3% north in the past 30 days.
Shares of Organon and Ligand Pharmaceuticals have gained 44.8% and 13.1%, respectively, year to date. However, the Enovis stock has declined 15.3% in the same time frame.
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