Auto Owners Insurance Co Sells 7,406,400 Shares of Rio Tinto PLC $RIO

Auto Owners Insurance Co lowered its holdings in Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE:RIO) by 99.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,600 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 7,406,400 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Rio Tinto were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Rio Tinto in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Rio Tinto in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Rio Tinto in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new stake in Rio Tinto in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Rio Tinto by 65.1% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 852 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on RIO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Rio Tinto in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Rio Tinto from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Rio Tinto from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” 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 assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.00.

Rio Tinto Stock Performance

Shares of Rio Tinto stock opened at $71.96 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.12 and a 200-day moving average of $61.75. Rio Tinto PLC has a 1-year low of $51.67 and a 1-year high of $72.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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 issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 620.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th.

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.