Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) Shares Gap Up to $65.99

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $65.99, but opened at $67.90. Rio Tinto Group shares last traded at $67.80, with a volume of 690,644 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RIO. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Friday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Rio Tinto Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Liberum Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Rio Tinto Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a $2.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 6.6%. This is a boost from Rio Tinto Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $1.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,838,524 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,849,476,000 after buying an additional 1,644,751 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,045,541 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,194,751,000 after buying an additional 475,329 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 58.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,899,694 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,037,135,000 after buying an additional 4,783,488 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,484,992 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $682,195,000 after buying an additional 344,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,707,717 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $424,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.33% of the company’s stock.

Rio Tinto Group 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.