H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) Shares Down 5.8% – Time to Sell?

H World Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:HTHT)’s share price dropped 5.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $51.31 and last traded at $51.0350. Approximately 1,562,822 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 1,762,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded H World Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.40 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research upgraded H World Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded H World Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Benchmark raised their target price on H World Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of H World Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, H World Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $54.80.

H World Group Stock Down 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.17.

H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. H World Group had a net margin of 20.05% and a return on equity of 37.79%. The company had revenue of $932.62 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that H World Group Limited Sponsored ADR will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

H World Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a yield of 518.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. H World Group’s dividend payout ratio is 70.22%.

Insider Activity at H World Group

In other news, Director Theng Fong Hee sold 31,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total transaction of $1,612,374.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H World Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of H World Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $342,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of H World Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,093,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in H World Group during the first quarter worth $1,675,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in H World Group by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,183,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,644,000 after purchasing an additional 365,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in H World Group by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.41% of the company’s stock.

About H World Group

H World Group, formerly known as Huazhu Group, is a leading hotel management and franchising company primarily serving the China market. The company operates a broad portfolio of midscale to luxury hotel brands, including Hi Inn, Blossom, Manxin, Madison International, Joya, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure and ibis. Through a network of both directly managed and franchised properties, H World Group caters to business and leisure travelers by offering consistent service standards and loyalty benefits across its brands.

In addition to its core hotel operations, H World Group provides technology-driven hospitality solutions such as centralized reservation systems, revenue management platforms and customer relationship management tools.