The Ensign Group posted another solid quarter, beating its forecasts by a bit, but not by enough to get investors excited. The shares traded down by about 3.6% on a day that the overall market was up by about 2%. The 52-week range is $70.29 to $102.26 per share, and with the current value just under the high, investors may be thinking that there is not much room to go up in the near term.
Year over year, quarterly revenues were up 24.3%, adjusted earnings per share were up 14.1% and occupancy keeps on rising as well. They purchased the operations of 19 nursing facilities during the quarter. Unlike most companies, Ensign continues to grow, and grow profitably.
But it is not just the acquisitions that are contributing to the growth and financial performance. On a same-facility basis, revenues increased by 9.1% year over year, patient days increased by 5.7% and occupancy increased by 420 basis points to 78.8%. The only real negative was that the skilled mix decreased by 70 basis points to 33.8% of nursing days, and the skilled mix dropped by 130 basis points to 53.8% of revenues.
Transitioning-facility results (22 facilities in each quarter) also improved, with revenues up by 12.7% year over year and patient days up by 7.8%. Occupancy among these 22 facilities increased by 540 basis points to 76.2%, but the skilled mix for patient days and revenues dropped, similar to the same-facility performance.
The company now operates 290 healthcare facilities in 13 states, and it has been able to post solid results for the past three years, both during and after the pandemic.
