UPDATE: Oppenheimer Raises PT on The Ensign Group Following Management Meetings

In a report published Thursday, Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn reiterated an Outperform rating on

, and raised the price target from $44.00 to $46.00. In the report, Oppenheimer noted, “Following meetings with mgmt, we believe ENSG remains well-positioned to outperform its struggling peers. ENSG boasts a tremendous amount of organic upside opportunity as it improves operations at its young and underperforming assets. In fact, we estimate that, if ENSG were to move the metrics at its recently acquired/transitioning facilities to same-store rates, EPS could rise by $1.34, or nearly 50% of its annual runrate. Furthermore, ENSG should continue its strong acquisition pace, as its balance sheet remains clean. As a result of the bullish outlook, we are raising our price target to $46 from $44, and would continue to be buyers of ENSG.” The Ensign Group closed on Wednesday at $40.00.