Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 6,338.33 ($82.29).

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on RIO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 6,500 ($84.39) to GBX 6,430 ($83.48) and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 7,700 ($99.97) target price on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Rio Tinto Group from GBX 6,200 ($80.50) to GBX 6,000 ($77.90) and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 6,200 ($80.50) price target on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a GBX 5,700 ($74.01) price objective on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Rio Tinto Group Price Performance

RIO stock traded up GBX 38 ($0.49) during trading on Tuesday, reaching GBX 5,001 ($64.93). 1,287,248 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,005,182. Rio Tinto Group has a 52-week low of GBX 4,509 ($58.54) and a 52-week high of GBX 5,910 ($76.73). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 25.01, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of £62.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 984.72, a PEG ratio of -0.64 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day moving average price is GBX 4,907.01 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 5,158.53.

Rio Tinto Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.79%. Rio Tinto Group's payout ratio is 6,706.35%.

About Rio Tinto Group

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.