Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) Increases Dividend to $2.23 Per Share

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) declared a semi-annual dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 2.23 per share by the mining company on Thursday, April 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Rio Tinto Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $1.77.

Rio Tinto Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 14.1% per year over the last three years. Rio Tinto Group has a payout ratio of 54.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Rio Tinto Group to earn $6.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.6%.

Rio Tinto Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Rio Tinto Group stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,476,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,197,128. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.64 and its 200 day moving average is $62.94. Rio Tinto Group has a 1-year low of $57.85 and a 1-year high of $74.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Rio Tinto Group from $83.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Rio Tinto Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rio Tinto Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

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.