Whittier Trust Co. Buys 1,878 Shares of Rio Tinto PLC $RIO

Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE:RIO) by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,263 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Rio Tinto were worth $1,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RIO. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Rio Tinto by 77,150.0% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 7,416,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $445,553,000 after buying an additional 7,406,400 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Rio Tinto during the second quarter valued at about $292,770,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Rio Tinto by 33.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,938,247 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $116,510,000 after purchasing an additional 490,357 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rio Tinto by 4.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,368,620 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $502,787,000 after purchasing an additional 326,661 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rio Tinto by 300.0% during the 1st quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $18,024,000 after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the last quarter. 19.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Rio Tinto from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Rio Tinto Stock Performance

NYSE:RIO opened at $69.80 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.33 and its 200-day moving average is $61.18. Rio Tinto PLC has a 52-week low of $51.67 and a 52-week high of $70.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $87.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.66.

Rio Tinto Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 620.0%. Rio Tinto’s payout ratio is presently 45.74%.

Rio Tinto 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.