Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock has been traded under the symbol “ENSG” on the NASDAQ Global Select Market since our initial public offering on November 8, 2007. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our common stock. As of January 29, 2024, there were approximately 315 holders of record of our common stock.
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Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of our filings under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act that might incorporate future filings, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K, in whole or in part, the Stock Performance Graph and supporting data which follows shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any such filings except to the extent that we specifically incorporate any such information into any such future filings.
The graph below shows the cumulative total stockholder return of investment of $100 (and the reinvestment of any dividends thereafter) on December 31, 2018 in (i) our common stock, (ii) the Skilled Nursing Facilities Peer Group 1 and (iii) the NASDAQ Market Index. Our stock price performance shown in the graph below is not indicative of future stock price performance.
Since our inception in 1999, we completed the spin-off of two independent publicly traded companies. On June 1, 2014, Ensign completed the spin-off of CareTrust REIT, Inc. (CareTrust) into an independent publicly traded company. On October 1, 2019, Ensign completed the spin-off of The Pennant Group, Inc. (Pennant) with the pro rata distribution of 1.18 shares of Pennant’s common stock for every share of Ensign’s common stock to our stockholders, pursuant to which Pennant became an independent company. Pennant's stock traded at $6.15 at opening price on the first day of trading and closed at $15.09. Ensign's stock price was reduced by the same value on the same day. For the purpose of this graph, the effect of the final separation of Pennant is reflected in the cumulative total return of Ensign Common Stock as a reinvested dividend.
COMPARISON OF 60 MONTH CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Ensign Group, the NASDAQ Composite Index and Our Peer Group
December 2023
*Assumes $100 invested on December 31, 2018 in stock in index, including reinvestment of dividends.
Fiscal year ended December 31.
December 31,
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Ensign Group, Inc. (2)
$ 100.00 $ 127.85 $ 206.31 $ 238.12 $ 268.99 $ 319.74
NASDAQ Market Index 100.00 136.69 198.10 242.03 163.28 236.17
Peer Group (1)
100.00 123.99 122.37 128.11 108.87 141.47
(1) The current composition of our Peer Group is as follows: Amedysis, Inc., CareTrust REIT Inc., Encompass Healthcare Corp., LTC Properties, Inc., National Healthcare Corporation, National Health Investors, Inc., Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc., Select Medical Holdings Corp. and Welltower Inc.
(2) The value displayed only incorporates the value of The Ensign Group, Inc. stock and does not incorporate the value shareholders received in connection with our spin-off of The Pennant Group, Inc.
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Dividend Policy
We do not have a formal dividend policy, but we currently intend to continue to pay regular quarterly dividends to the holders of our common stock. We have been a dividend-paying company since 2002 and have increased our dividend every year for the last 21 years.
Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities
Stock Repurchase Programs — On August 29, 2023, the Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program pursuant to which we may repurchase up to $20.0 million of our common stock under the program for a period of approximately 12 months from September 1, 2023. Under this program, we are authorized to repurchase our issued and outstanding common shares from time to time in open-market and privately negotiated transactions and block trades in accordance with federal securities laws. We did not purchase any shares pursuant to this stock repurchase program during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Previously on July 28, 2022, the Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program pursuant to which we could repurchase up to $20.0 million of our common stock under the program for a period of approximately 12 months from August 2, 2022. Under this program, we were authorized to repurchase our issued and outstanding common shares from time to time in open-market and privately negotiated transactions and block trades in accordance with federal securities laws. The share repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any specific number of shares. The stock repurchase program expired on August 2, 2023 and is no longer in effect. We did not purchase any shares pursuant to this stock repurchase program.
Item 6. [RESERVED]