Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on RIO. Liberum Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Friday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Rio Tinto Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rio Tinto Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.00.

Rio Tinto Group Price Performance

Rio Tinto Group stock opened at $63.74 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.89. Rio Tinto Group has a 1 year low of $58.27 and a 1 year high of $75.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rio Tinto Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIO. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Rio Tinto Group by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,193,773 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,476,052,000 after acquiring an additional 6,748,799 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Rio Tinto Group by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,899,694 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,037,135,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,488 shares during the last quarter. Cowa LLC acquired a new stake in Rio Tinto Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,707,717 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $424,997,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 227.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 972,900 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $62,110,000 after purchasing an additional 676,100 shares during the last quarter. 19.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.