The Ensign Group Inc. (ENSG) will raise its quarterly dividend by 5,3 percent to $0.05 per share. This will mark the 17th consecutive year of dividend increases by the skilled nursing services company.

The next dividend is payable on or before January 31, 2020, to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2019. The new annualized dividend rate of 20 cents per share yields 0.4% at a stock price of $45.64.

“We are pleased to announce our seventeenth consecutive annual dividend increase, which reflects our strong market position and continued commitment to return value to our shareholders,” commented Barry Port, Ensign's Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to continued growth and are optimistic about our long-term prospects,” he added.

The Ensign Group, Inc.'s provides skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, home health and hospice services and other rehabilitative and healthcare services at healthcare facilities, hospice agencies, home health agencies and home care businesses in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. Ensign has been a dividend-paying company since 2002.