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Bull of the Day: Rio Tinto (RIO)

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The Mining-Miscellaneous Industry is currently in the top 30% of over 248 Zacks Industries and Rio Tinto’s (RIO - Free Report) ) stock is standing out with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and overall “A” VGM grade for the combination of Value, Growth, and Momentum.

Rio Tinto is positioned to benefit from its strong business environment and higher commodity prices as an international miner of aluminum, borax, coal, copper and iron ore, lead, gold and silver, uranium, titanium, and diamonds among others. The Australian-based miner has mining operations in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, and Canada.

Good Value

Following another strong year, Rio Tinto’s earnings are expected to dip -9% to $7.38 per share in fiscal 2023 compared to EPS of $8.15 in 2022. However, fiscal 2024 earnings are projected to rebound and rise 4% to $7.70 per share.

Plus, earnings estimate revisions have continued to trend higher for FY23 as commodity prices have remained higher in correlation with inflation. Rio Tinto’s FY23 EPS estimates have jumped 13% throughout the quarter with FY24 estimates up 2%.

Even better, the rising earnings estimates support the case that Rio Tinto’s stock appears to be undervalued. Shares of RIO trade around $66 and just 9X forward earnings which is nicely beneath the S&P 500’s 18.1X and its industry average of 10X. Rio Tinto stock also trades 72% below its decade-long high of 32.2X and at a slight discount to the median of 10.1X.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Total Return

Year to date, Rio Tinto stock is down -7% but this year’s drop may be a buying opportunity, especially when considering RIO’s stellar dividend. To that point, RIO’s total return including dividends over the last three years is still +139% to easily top the S&P 500’s +85% and the Mining-Miscellaneous Markets’ +92%.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

At the moment, Rio Tinto’s annual dividend yield is 6.76% at $4.49 per share. This is well above the S&P 500’s 1.61% average and the Mining-Miscellaneous Markets’ 4.36%. More Impressive, Rio Tinto’s annualized dividend growth over the last five years is 14.19%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Takeaway

The rising earnings estimate revisions are a good sign that Rio Tinto will continue to benefit from higher commodity prices. On top of this, shares of RIO look undervalued from a price to earnings perspective making the stock very attractive considering its stellar dividend and inflation-fighting ability. Furthermore, the Average Zacks Price Target of $90.50 per share suggests 36% upside from current levels.


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