Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RIO. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Clarkson Capital raised shares of Rio Tinto Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rio Tinto Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Rio Tinto Group Stock Performance

Shares of RIO opened at $58.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $73.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.64. Rio Tinto Group has a 12 month low of $51.67 and a 12 month high of $72.08.

Institutional Trading of Rio Tinto Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Rio Tinto Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,604,463 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,035,319,000 after acquiring an additional 76,368 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Rio Tinto Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,368,620 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $502,787,000 after acquiring an additional 326,661 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in Rio Tinto Group by 77,150.0% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 7,416,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $445,553,000 after buying an additional 7,406,400 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Rio Tinto Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,115,476 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $300,841,000 after buying an additional 70,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,938,247 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $116,510,000 after buying an additional 490,357 shares during the period. 19.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.