Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE:RIO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE:RIO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.00.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Rio Tinto from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rio Tinto

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Rio Tinto by 77,150.0% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 7,416,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $445,553,000 after acquiring an additional 7,406,400 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Rio Tinto during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,770,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Rio Tinto during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,089,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Rio Tinto by 71.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,855,607 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $108,238,000 after acquiring an additional 774,851 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rio Tinto by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,562,934 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,082,776,000 after acquiring an additional 752,505 shares during the period. 19.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rio Tinto Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RIO opened at $68.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $63.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.97. Rio Tinto has a 1-year low of $51.67 and a 1-year high of $69.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Rio Tinto Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 620.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Rio Tinto’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.74%.

Rio Tinto Company Profile

Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company operates through Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper, and Minerals Segments. The Iron Ore segment engages in the iron ore mining, and salt and gypsum production in Western Australia. The Aluminum segment is involved in bauxite mining; alumina refining; and aluminium smelting.