ENSIGN GROUP, INC vs TENET HEALTHCARE CORP, two Medical Care stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Ensign buys struggling skilled-nursing facilities and fixes them; Tenet owns hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers and rides their pricing. The fixer's model is steadier and thinner, a 9% operating margin against Tenet's 24.1%, and cleaner, 0.06 turns of debt against 1.97. The market pays 26.6 times earnings for Ensign's repeatable acquisition engine and 9.8 for Tenet's fat but distrusted margins, with Tenet handing back a 20.4% free-cash yield to Ensign's 6.1%. Returns on equity, 39.5% geared against 15.3% clean, need their footnotes. One business improves its assets, the other harvests them; the market prices improvement at nearly triple the rate of harvest.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | ENSG | THC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $163.16 | $187.50 |
| Market cap | $9.7B | $16.4B |
| Sector | Medical Care | Medical Care |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +6.5% | — |
| P/E | 26.6 | 9.8 |
| P/B | 4.10 | 2.45 |
| P/S | 1.84 | 0.77 |
| EV/EBITDA | 16.7 | 5.6 |
| Revenue growth | +19.2% | +4.5% |
| Operating margin | 9.0% | 24.1% |
| Net margin | 6.9% | 12.4% |
| Return on equity | 15.3% | 39.5% |
| Return on assets | 6.5% | 8.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 13.9% | 15.5% |
| FCF yield | 6.1% | 20.4% |
| Dividend yield | 0.1% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.06 | 1.97 |
| Current ratio | 1.56 | 1.36 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 3.37 | 1.58 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.