Ensign Group Earnings Preview

Watch Ensign Group's (Nasdaq: ENSG  ) earnings report to see whether it can beat analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, Aug. 1. The Ensign Group, through its subsidiaries, provides skilled nursing and rehabilitative-care services through the operation of 79 facilities located in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Ensign Group, with four of six rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Ensign Group as much as competitor Sunrise Senior Living overall. While analysts still rate the stock a moderate buy, they are a little more optimistic about it compared with three months ago.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $189.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 19.7% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.58 per share. Estimates range from $0.54 to $0.65.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 98.8% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 96.8% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Ensign Group and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 109 posts in the past 30 days. Ensign Group has a bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community's assessment.

Management:
Ensign Group's profit has risen year over year by an average of 29.2%.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters. 

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Gross Margin	19.8%	19%	18%	18.1%
Operating Margin	13%	12.3%	11.3%	11.5%
Net Margin	7%	6.8%	6%	6.1%

For all our Ensign Group-specific analysis, including earnings and beyond, add Ensign Group to My Watchlist.

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