Shares of Mission Viejo-based nursing home operator Ensign Group Inc. debuted Friday below their already lowered price range.
Ensign priced 4 million shares at $16, down from an earlier expected range of $18 and $20 a share.
In October, Ensign cut the expected price range for its shares from $20 to $22.
The company’s shares actually opened at about $15.50 and ended up about 1%.
Ensign has a market value of about $330 million.
The company went public during a tough week in which the major indexes saw a three-day losing streak on concerns about financial woes, a slowing economy, oil prices and the weak dollar.
Ensign raised an estimated $60 million after fees. Ensign plans to use the proceeds to buy additional facilities, upgrade existing ones, pay down its debt and for general corporate purposes.
The company was founded in 1999 and has 61 facilities in California and five other states.
