BKD vs NHC vs ENSG Stock Comparison

Brookdale Senior Living, National Healthcare and Ensign Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NHC National Healthcare Corp
$211.34 -6.6% 1M +73.2% 1Y
Market cap
$3.33B
P/E
23.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.56B
Div. yield
0.01%
Home Health and Senior Care Healthcare
5 wins
ENSG Ensign Group, Inc
$184.11 +4.4% 1M -0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$10.77B
P/E
27.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.67B
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, National Healthcare 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBKDNHCENSGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.45B $3.33B $10.77B ENSG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -17.7x 23.7x 27.0x NHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 332.3x — 22.2x ENSG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.4% +6.9% +17.5% ENSG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.5% 9.0% 7.0% NHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.5% 10.0% 14.3% ENSG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 8.9x — -0.3x ENSG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +12.9% +73.2% -0.8% NHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.9%/yr +24.8%/yr +18.8%/yr NHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 39.2% 34.7% 29.3% ENSG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 41/100 79/100 64/100 NHC

Percentile Scorecard

BKDNHCENSG

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

AxisBKDNHCENSG
Valuation 63 #35 of 92 77 #22 of 92 69 #29 of 92
Growth 35 #57 of 87 80 #18 of 87 63 #33 of 87
Profitability 55 #39 of 86 81 #17 of 86 75 #22 of 86
Financial Health 10 #87 of 97 88 #13 of 97 72 #28 of 97
Shareholder Returns – 67 #19 of 55 43 #32 of 55
Overall 41 79 64
  • BKD ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • NHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ENSG ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBKDNHCENSGSPY
1 month -9.8%-6.6%+4.4% +0.9%
3 months -32.9%-7.7%+1.2% +5.9%
6 months -29.2%+20.7%-1.2% +8.5%
Year to date -7.6%+54.2%+5.7% +13.3%
1 year +12.9%+73.2%-0.8% +12.4%
3 years +153.7%+219.7%+89.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +36.4%+47.4%+23.7% +23.5%
5 years +53.4%+202.2%+136.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year +8.9%+24.8%+18.8% +11.0%
10 years -32.0%+226.5%+980.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year -3.8%+12.6%+26.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureBKDNHCENSGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 39.2%34.7%29.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.2%32.2%24.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.290.13-0.06 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.332.11-0.03 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -69.0%-34.4%-31.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.5%-14.5%-14.7% -0.9%
52-week high $16.77$247.31$215.83 $779.14
52-week low $8.83$119.44$147.13 $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.

MultipleBKDNHCENSG
P/E now vs peer median -17.2xmedian 25.6x 23.5xmedian 25.6x 26.7xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 1.6x 2.1xmedian 1.6x 1.9xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.4xmedian 16.3x 16.3xmedian 16.3x 16.7xmedian 16.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9,839xmedian 21.3x 22.6xmedian 21.3x 21.1xmedian 21.3x
P/B now vs peer median -82.2xmedian 3.3x 2.9xmedian 3.3x 4.2xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.32median 0.68 0.38median 0.68 1.68median 0.68

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 monthsBKDNHCENSG
Revenue $3.05B $1.56B $5.67B
Gross profit $2.93B – $1.20B
Operating income $106.04M $144.68M $509.16M
Net income -$138.35M $142.84M $399.32M
Free cash flow $242.00K $146.53M $509.91M
EPS (diluted) $-0.57 $8.84 $6.73
Cash & equivalents $370.39M $39.21M $337.59M
Total debt $4.27B – $198.72M
Shares (diluted) 243.89M 15.86M 59.30M
Enterprise value $1.26B $2.31B $8.89B

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
MetricBKDNHCENSG
P/E -17.2x 23.5x 26.7x
P/FCF 9,839x 22.6x 21.1x
P/Operating cash flow 10.6x 17.5x 15.4x
P/S 0.8x 2.1x 1.9x
P/B -82.2x 2.9x 4.2x
P/Tangible book -82.2x 3.0x 4.2x
EV/EBITDA 14.4x 16.3x 16.7x
EV/EBIT 59.1x 21.4x 20.7x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 2.0x 1.9x
EV/FCF 25,882x 21.2x 20.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 28.0x 16.4x 15.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.32 0.38 1.68

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBKDNHCENSG
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.4% 6.9% 17.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.0% 12.8% 16.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.9% – 21.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.7% – 16.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 101.6% 24.1% 26.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 57.4% 18.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 43.0% 35.9% 21.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -10.3% 68.9% 17.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 45.1% 31.6% 20.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -7.4% 61.9% 15.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.4% 26.7% 44.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 29.6% 44.1% 26.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 100.1% 23.2% 76.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.0% 58.0% 29.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBKDNHCENSG
Gross margin 96.1% – 21.2%
EBITDA margin 14.3% 12.2% 11.1%
Operating margin 3.5% 9.3% 9.0%
Pretax margin -4.4% 11.9% 9.4%
Net margin -4.5% 9.0% 7.0%
FCF margin 0.0% 9.4% 9.0%
Operating cash flow margin 7.3% 12.1% 12.3%
Return on equity – 12.8% 16.0%
Return on assets -2.3% 9.3% 6.8%
Return on invested capital 2.5% 10.0% 14.3%
Return on capital employed 2.0% 11.2% 10.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 1.0x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -1.6x 1.3x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.3% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBKDNHCENSG
Debt / assets 72.4% – 3.3%
Debt / equity -147.5x – 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 8.9x – -0.3x
Debt / FCF 17,655x – 0.4x
Liabilities / assets 100.5% 26.6% 57.3%
Equity / assets -0.5% 73.4% 42.7%
Interest coverage – 56.6x 62.8x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.9x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.5x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.9x 0.4x
Altman Z-score -0.18 7.15 3.62

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBKDNHCENSG
Dividend yield – 1.2% 0.1%
Net buyback yield – 0.1% 0.2%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 1.4% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 27.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 27.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 5.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 4.3% –

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.

ConsensusBKDNHCENSG
Forward P/E 332.3xFY2026 – 22.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.03FY2026 – $8.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +26.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +433.3% – -1.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.81BFY2026 – $5.76BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -12.0%FY2026 – +13.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.6% – +16.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBKDNHCENSG
Held by institutions 100.0% 65.3% 89.8%
Institutions holding 293 250 547
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.6% -0.6% -1.2%
Institutions buying 165 136 250
Institutions selling 92 72 213
Buyers to sellers 1.79 1.89 1.17

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.

BKDNHCENSG
BKD 1.00 0.21 0.35
NHC 0.21 1.00 0.33
ENSG 0.35 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BKD, NHC and ENSG?

Ensign (ENSG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) $2.45B, National Healthcare (NHC) $3.33B, Ensign (ENSG) $10.77B.

Which stock is cheaper, BKD, NHC and ENSG?

National Healthcare (NHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) -17.7x, National Healthcare (NHC) 23.7x, Ensign (ENSG) 27.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ensign (ENSG) is cheapest (Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) 332.3x, Ensign (ENSG) 22.2x). 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: Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) -4.4%, National Healthcare (NHC) +6.9%, Ensign (ENSG) +17.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

National Healthcare (NHC) has the highest net margin (Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) -4.5%, National Healthcare (NHC) 9.0%, Ensign (ENSG) 7.0%). On return on invested capital, Ensign (ENSG) leads (Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) 2.5%, National Healthcare (NHC) 10.0%, Ensign (ENSG) 14.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year National Healthcare (NHC) returned the most: Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) +12.9%, National Healthcare (NHC) +73.2%, Ensign (ENSG) -0.8%. Over five years, National Healthcare (NHC) compounded fastest (Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) +8.9%/yr, National Healthcare (NHC) +24.8%/yr, Ensign (ENSG) +18.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) 0.00%, National Healthcare (NHC) 0.01%, Ensign (ENSG) 0.00%. Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) and Ensign (ENSG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ensign (ENSG) has been the steadiest (Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) 39.2%, National Healthcare (NHC) 34.7%, Ensign (ENSG) 29.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BKD, NHC and ENSG?

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.