Select Medical (SEM) Competitors

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM) and The Ensign Group (NASDAQ:ENSG) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, community ranking, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Which has more risk and volatility, SEM or ENSG?

Select Medical has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Ensign Group has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, SEM or ENSG?

The Ensign Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Select Medical. Select Medical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than The Ensign Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Select Medical	$6.66B	0.34	$243.49M	$2.14	8.24
The Ensign Group	$4.26B	1.70	$297.97M	$5.11	24.72

Does the media refer more to SEM or ENSG?

In the previous week, Select Medical had 7 more articles in the media than The Ensign Group. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Select Medical and 11 mentions for The Ensign Group. The Ensign Group's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Select Medical's score of 0.06 indicating that The Ensign Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Select Medical	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
The Ensign Group	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate SEM or ENSG?

Select Medical presently has a consensus price target of $39.50, indicating a potential upside of 124.11%. The Ensign Group has a consensus price target of $165.17, indicating a potential upside of 30.73%. Given Select Medical's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Select Medical is more favorable than The Ensign Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Select Medical	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
The Ensign Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Is SEM or ENSG a better dividend stock?

Select Medical pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. The Ensign Group pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Select Medical pays out 23.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Ensign Group pays out 4.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. The Ensign Group has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in SEM or ENSG?

89.5% of Select Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of The Ensign Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.1% of Select Medical shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of The Ensign Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is SEM or ENSG more profitable?

The Ensign Group has a net margin of 6.99% compared to Select Medical's net margin of 3.97%. The Ensign Group's return on equity of 17.07% beat Select Medical's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Select Medical	3.97%	15.99%	3.65%
The Ensign Group	6.99%	17.07%	6.47%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SEM or ENSG?

The Ensign Group received 21 more outperform votes than Select Medical when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.18% of users gave The Ensign Group an outperform vote while only 57.95% of users gave Select Medical an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Select Medical	Outperform Votes 339 57.95%	Underperform Votes 246 42.05%
The Ensign Group	Outperform Votes 360 66.18%	Underperform Votes 184 33.82%

Summary

The Ensign Group beats Select Medical on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.