Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO)

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE:RIO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 195,145 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately3,689% compared to the typical volume of 5,150 call options.

Rio Tinto Stock Down 1.7%

Rio Tinto stock opened at $62.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Rio Tinto has a 1-year low of $51.67 and a 1-year high of $72.08.

Rio Tinto Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a yield of 620.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Rio Tinto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RIO. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Rio Tinto 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 acquiring an additional 7,406,400 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Rio Tinto in the 2nd quarter worth $292,770,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Rio Tinto by 143,872.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,264,081 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $74,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,203 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Rio Tinto in the 2nd quarter worth $49,089,000. Finally, Dynamo Internacional Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. grew its position in Rio Tinto by 119.2% in the 4th quarter. Dynamo Internacional Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. now owns 129,804 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 807,610 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Rio Tinto from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rio Tinto from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rio Tinto presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

About Rio Tinto

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.