Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 3,305 Rio Tinto PLC $RIO

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE:RIO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,305 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $193,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rio Tinto during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rio Tinto during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Rio Tinto during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rio Tinto by 5,754.5% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 644 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Rio Tinto during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. 19.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on RIO. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Rio Tinto from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Rio Tinto from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Rio Tinto Price Performance

NYSE RIO opened at $67.66 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Rio Tinto PLC has a fifty-two week low of $51.67 and a fifty-two week high of $68.18. The firm has a market cap of $84.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.66.

Rio Tinto Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 620.0%. Rio Tinto’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.74%.

Rio Tinto 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.