H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $38.05, but opened at $36.20. H World Group shares last traded at $38.83, with a volume of 489,338 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.16). H World Group had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 15.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HTHT shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of H World Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC cut shares of H World Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $32.40 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on shares of H World Group from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.68.

Institutional Trading of H World Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTHT. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in H World Group by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of H World Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 14,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in H World Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in H World Group by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in H World Group by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 8,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. 46.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H World Group Trading Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

H World Group Company Profile

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.