ADUS vs ENSG vs GRDN Stock Comparison

Addus HomeCare, Ensign and Guardian Pharmacy Services Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ADUS Addus HomeCare Corp
$121.17 +7.1% 1M -0.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.22B
P/E
21.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.48B
Div. yield
–
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
2 wins
ENSG Ensign Group, Inc
$176.92 +1.0% 1M -4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$9.84B
P/E
26.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.49B
Div. yield
–
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ensign leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ensign 6, Guardian Pharmacy Services 3, Addus HomeCare 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADUSENSGGRDNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.22B $9.84B $5.02M ENSG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.1x 26.0x 0.1x GRDN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.8x 21.3x 30.9x ADUS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +15.9% +18.9% +10.3% ENSG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.1% 6.9% 4.5% ADUS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.2% 13.9% — ENSG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.2x -0.3x — ENSG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.4% -4.9% +37.4% GRDN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.7%/yr +20.6%/yr — ENSG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.3% 27.8% 40.6% ENSG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 61/100 94/100 GRDN

Percentile Scorecard

ADUSENSGGRDN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisADUSENSGGRDN
Valuation 86 #14 of 93 65 #33 of 93 100 #1 of 25
Growth 61 #35 of 88 59 #37 of 88 87 #4 of 24
Profitability 72 #25 of 87 71 #26 of 87 100 #1 of 24
Financial Health 87 #14 of 100 73 #28 of 100 88 #4 of 26
Shareholder Returns 38 #35 of 56 40 #34 of 56 –
Overall 69 61 94
  • ADUS ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ENSG ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • GRDN ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodADUSENSGGRDNSPY
1 month +7.1%+1.0%-4.8% -0.8%
3 months +4.8%-0.6%-5.5% +3.5%
6 months +23.5%-6.9%+3.3% +7.0%
Year to date +12.8%+1.6%+30.3% +12.2%
1 year -0.4%-4.9%+37.4% +13.0%
3 years +47.9%+81.8%— +86.3%
3 years, per year +13.9%+22.1%— +23.1%
5 years +45.0%+155.5%— +68.6%
5 years, per year +7.7%+20.6%— +11.0%
10 years +366.4%+886.2%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +16.7%+25.7%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureADUSENSGGRDNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.3%27.8%40.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.8%24.3%38.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.18-0.060.57 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.01-0.180.92 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.9%-31.8%-27.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.3%-18.0%-15.7% -1.8%
52-week high $122.75$215.83$46.49 $779.14
52-week low $88.49$147.13$27.03 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleADUSENSGGRDN
P/E now vs peer median 21.0xmedian 25.1x 27.1xmedian 25.1x 0.1xmedian 24.3x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.6x 1.9xmedian 1.6x 0.0xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.4xmedian 14.5x 17.4xmedian 14.5x -0.8xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.6xmedian 22.4x 24.6xmedian 22.4x 0.1xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 3.1x 4.2xmedian 3.1x 0.0xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 1.06median 0.66 1.82median 0.66 —median 1.33

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsADUSENSGGRDN
Revenue $1.48B $5.49B $1.46B
Gross profit $477.75M $1.14B $316.58M
Operating income $148.23M $467.39M $85.44M
Net income $105.31M $378.95M $65.91M
Free cash flow $154.77M $419.09M $75.29M
EPS (diluted) $5.70 $6.37 $1,032.46
Cash & equivalents $99.57M $262.30M $89.81M
Total debt $61.60M $566.98M –
Shares (diluted) 18.47M 59.48M 63.84K
Enterprise value $1.83B $7.84B -$251.79M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricADUSENSGGRDN
P/E 21.0x 27.1x 0.1x
P/FCF 14.6x 24.6x 0.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.9x 16.9x 0.1x
P/S 1.5x 1.9x 0.0x
P/B 2.0x 4.2x 0.0x
P/Tangible book 2.2x 4.2x 0.0x
EV/EBITDA 13.4x 17.4x -0.8x
EV/EBIT 15.0x 21.7x -1.0x
EV/Revenue 1.5x 1.8x -0.1x
EV/FCF 14.4x 24.2x -1.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.7x 16.6x -0.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.06 1.82 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADUSENSGGRDN
Revenue growth (1Y) 15.9% 18.9% 10.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.9% 17.4% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.1% 18.7% 21.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.9% 15.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 27.5% 18.2% 237.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.6% 15.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) 26.9% 17.3% 172.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 25.1% 16.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) 26.0% 15.6% 142,625%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.9% 14.9% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 61.7% 31.4% 71.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.4% 25.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 65.3% 51.4% 206.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.9% 26.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADUSENSGGRDN
Gross margin 32.4% 20.7% 21.6%
EBITDA margin 11.3% 10.6% 7.4%
Operating margin 10.0% 8.5% 5.8%
Pretax margin 9.5% 9.1% 6.5%
Net margin 7.1% 6.9% 4.5%
FCF margin 10.5% 7.6% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 11.0% 11.1% 6.8%
Return on equity 9.3% 15.7% 27.1%
Return on assets 7.3% 6.7% 15.3%
Return on invested capital 9.2% 13.9% –
Return on capital employed 11.6% 9.7% 30.4%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.0x 3.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.6x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.2% 1.0% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADUSENSGGRDN
Debt / assets 4.2% 2.4% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.2x -0.3x –
Debt / FCF 0.4x 0.3x –
Liabilities / assets 21.2% 57.5% 41.9%
Equity / assets 78.8% 42.5% 58.1%
Interest coverage 14.9x 60.0x 135.4x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.2x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.1x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.4x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 6.35 3.61 4.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADUSENSGGRDN
Dividend yield – 0.2% –
Net buyback yield -0.1% 0.1% –
Shareholder yield -0.1% 0.2% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusADUSENSGGRDN
Forward P/E 16.8xFY2026 21.3xFY2026 30.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.20FY2026 $8.29FY2026 $1.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.6%FY2026 +26.2%FY2026 +18.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.1% -1.8% +17.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.57BFY2026 $5.76BFY2026 $1.41BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.8%FY2026 +13.9%FY2026 -2.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.1% +16.9% +2.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADUSENSGGRDN
Held by institutions 100.0% 89.8% 46.1%
Institutions holding 303 547 189
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% -1.2% +3.8%
Institutions buying 162 250 109
Institutions selling 94 213 54
Buyers to sellers 1.72 1.17 2.02

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ADUSENSGGRDN
ADUS 1.00 0.36 0.24
ENSG 0.36 1.00 0.17
GRDN 0.24 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADUS, ENSG and GRDN?

Ensign (ENSG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Addus HomeCare (ADUS) $2.22B, Ensign (ENSG) $9.84B, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) $5.02M.

Which stock is cheaper, ADUS, ENSG and GRDN?

Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Addus HomeCare (ADUS) 21.1x, Ensign (ENSG) 26.0x, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 0.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Addus HomeCare (ADUS) is cheapest (Addus HomeCare (ADUS) 16.8x, Ensign (ENSG) 21.3x, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 30.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ensign (ENSG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Addus HomeCare (ADUS) +15.9%, Ensign (ENSG) +18.9%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) +10.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Addus HomeCare (ADUS) has the highest net margin (Addus HomeCare (ADUS) 7.1%, Ensign (ENSG) 6.9%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 4.5%). On return on invested capital, Ensign (ENSG) leads (Addus HomeCare (ADUS) 9.2%, Ensign (ENSG) 13.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) returned the most: Addus HomeCare (ADUS) -0.4%, Ensign (ENSG) -4.9%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) +37.4%. Over five years, Ensign (ENSG) compounded fastest (Addus HomeCare (ADUS) +7.7%/yr, Ensign (ENSG) +20.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ensign (ENSG) has been the steadiest (Addus HomeCare (ADUS) 29.3%, Ensign (ENSG) 27.8%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 40.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ADUS, ENSG and GRDN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ensign (ENSG) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.