Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO)

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,164 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,604,463 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,035,319,000 after buying an additional 76,368 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,766 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $98,340,000 after purchasing an additional 358,630 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 1,068,182 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $62,820,000 after purchasing an additional 10,062 shares during the last quarter. Palliser Capital UK Ltd increased its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Palliser Capital UK Ltd now owns 989,417 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $58,188,000 after purchasing an additional 674,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Rio Tinto Group by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 763,952 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $44,928,000 after purchasing an additional 77,130 shares during the last quarter. 19.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RIO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Rio Tinto Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Rio Tinto Group from $83.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded Rio Tinto Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rio Tinto Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Rio Tinto Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RIO opened at $63.88 on Thursday. Rio Tinto Group has a twelve month low of $57.85 and a twelve month high of $74.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $80.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.85.

Rio Tinto Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $2.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 7%. This is a positive change from Rio Tinto Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $1.77. Rio Tinto Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

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.