H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) Shares Gap Down to $29.09

H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.09, but opened at $28.45. H World Group shares last traded at $28.28, with a volume of 40,055 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HTHT. CLSA initiated coverage on shares of H World Group in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Macquarie assumed coverage on H World Group in a research report on Friday, April 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of H World Group from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

H World Group Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.99 and its 200 day moving average is $35.50. The stock has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 17th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $731.00 million during the quarter. H World Group had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 28.59%. Research analysts forecast that H World Group Limited will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H World Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. H World Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H World Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of H World Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 16,389,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,888 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of H World Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,432,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,986,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of H World Group by 192.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,689,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,188,000 after buying an additional 3,744,106 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of H World Group by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,229,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,540,000 after buying an additional 382,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA raised its holdings in shares of H World Group by 57.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 1,803,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,778,000 after buying an additional 659,914 shares during the period. 46.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About H World Group

H World Group Limited develops leased and owned, manachised, and franchised hotels in the People's Republic of China. The company operates hotels under its own brands, such as HanTing Hotel, Ni Hao Hotel, Hi Inn, Elan Hotel, Zleep Hotels, Ibis Hotel, JI Hotel, Orange Hotel, Starway Hotel, Ibis Styles Hotel, CitiGO Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, IntercityHotel, Manxin Hotel, Mercure Hotel, Madison Hotel, Novotel Hotel, Joya Hotel, Blossom House, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, MAXX by Steigenberger, Jaz in the City, Grand Mercure, Steigenberger Icon, and Song Hotels.