Rio Tinto Group (RIO) Competitors

Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) and BHP Group (LON:BHP) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, profitability, community ranking, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer RIO or BHP?

Rio Tinto Group received 2015 more outperform votes than BHP Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.33% of users gave Rio Tinto Group an outperform vote while only 39.35% of users gave BHP Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Rio Tinto Group	Outperform Votes 2124 70.33%	Underperform Votes 896 29.67%
BHP Group	Outperform Votes 109 39.35%	Underperform Votes 168 60.65%

Is RIO or BHP more profitable?

Rio Tinto Group has a net margin of 19.84% compared to BHP Group's net margin of 14.10%. Rio Tinto Group's return on equity of 19.72% beat BHP Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rio Tinto Group	19.84%	19.72%	9.23%
BHP Group	14.10%	19.66%	13.98%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in RIO or BHP?

48.0% of Rio Tinto Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.2% of BHP Group shares are held by institutional investors. 14.6% of Rio Tinto Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of BHP Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor RIO or BHP?

In the previous week, Rio Tinto Group had 3 more articles in the media than BHP Group. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Rio Tinto Group and 4 mentions for BHP Group. Rio Tinto Group's average media sentiment score of -0.12 beat BHP Group's score of -0.27 indicating that Rio Tinto Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Rio Tinto Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
BHP Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk & volatility, RIO or BHP?

Rio Tinto Group has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BHP Group has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is RIO or BHP a better dividend stock?

Rio Tinto Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 338 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. BHP Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 113 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Rio Tinto Group pays out 6,706.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. BHP Group pays out 9,495.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rio Tinto Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, RIO or BHP?

Rio Tinto Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BHP Group. Rio Tinto Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BHP Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rio Tinto Group	£54.18B	1.11	£10.75B	£5.04	950.92
BHP Group	£56.03B	1.81	£7.90B	£1.19	1,682.35

Do analysts recommend RIO or BHP?

Rio Tinto Group currently has a consensus price target of GBX 6,203.75, indicating a potential upside of 29.44%. BHP Group has a consensus price target of GBX 2,700, indicating a potential upside of 34.87%. Given BHP Group's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BHP Group is more favorable than Rio Tinto Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rio Tinto Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
BHP Group	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Summary

Rio Tinto Group beats BHP Group on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.