KBC Group NV Buys 27,466 Shares of H World Group Limited Sponsored ADR $HTHT

Key Points

• KBC Group NV raised its stake in H World Group by 46.0% in Q4, buying 27,466 shares to hold 87,221 shares valued at about $4.104 million.
• H World announced a $1.30 dividend payable May 20 (record/ex-dividend date May 4); the article reports a 518% yield and a payout ratio of 113.78%, figures that appear unusually high.
• Analysts are largely bullish with an average "Buy" rating and a consensus target of $54.80; recent upgrades include UBS (to Buy, $62.40) and Benchmark (to $60.00).

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of H World Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:HTHT - Free Report) by 46.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,221 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,466 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in H World Group were worth $4,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of H World Group by 1,712.7% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of H World Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 598,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,174,000 after acquiring an additional 22,587 shares during the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of H World Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $659,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of H World Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 815,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,358,000 after acquiring an additional 12,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of H World Group by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 26,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 4,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.41% of the company's stock.

H World Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTHT opened at $55.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.17. H World Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a 1 year low of $30.41 and a 1 year high of $56.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.65.

H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $932.62 million during the quarter. H World Group had a net margin of 20.05% and a return on equity of 37.79%. Research analysts anticipate that H World Group Limited Sponsored ADR will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

H World Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a yield of 518.0%. H World Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of H World Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of H World Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group raised shares of H World Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $62.40 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of H World Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of H World Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, H World Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.80.

Insider Transactions at H World Group

In other H World Group news, Director Theng Fong Hee sold 31,640 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total value of $1,612,374.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 49.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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