H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) Shares Down 5.8% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• H World Group shares tumbled 5.8% intraday to about $51.04 on Wednesday, with 1.56 million shares traded (slightly below average) after closing at $54.20.
• Analysts have been upgrading the stock—UBS, Zacks, Weiss and others moved ratings higher—giving H World a MarketBeat consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $54.80.
• The company announced a $1.30 dividend (ex-dividend and record date listed as May 4, payable May 20), which the report cites as an implied yield of 518%; additionally, a director recently sold 31,640 shares and insiders collectively own 49.4% of the stock.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

H World Group Stock Down 3.7%

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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.17.

H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter. H World Group had a return on equity of 37.79% and a net margin of 20.05%.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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H World Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 518.0%. H World Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H World Group

In other news, Director Theng Fong Hee sold 31,640 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total value of $1,612,374.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 49.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of H World Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTHT. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of H World Group in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in H World Group by 81.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in H World Group in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in H World Group by 889.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in H World Group by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 46.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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