We are always looking for a glimmer of optimism in the quarterly earnings reports for publicly traded seniors housing and care companies, and sometimes we find it. One only has to look at The Ensign Group, which has a mix of skilled nursing and seniors housing.
Everything seems to be moving up at Ensign. GAAP earnings per share up 40.7% year over year. GAAP net income up 46.8%. Skilled nursing occupancy up 165 basis points. Same-facility SNF occupancy up 50 basis points. They are buying, they are turning around properties. They are the counter argument to those who say you should not be publicly traded in this sector. They seem to be thriving (most of the time), and nobody quite understands what their secret sauce is. We certainly have yet to figure it out. They are the Ensign Energizer bunny. And by the way, their share price is more than double the 52-week low and very near the high.
