January 30, 2025
Top 10 Stock Rio Tinto Hold Recommendation
How to read the ranks
For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".
Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".
Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.
Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.
(NEW) Sentiment - quantifies professional analyst ratings and holdings as well as market pulse. Green = positive sentiment; red = skepticism (Only available to Premium Subscribers).
(NEW) 360° View - the ultimate rating with all financial and non-financial indicators.
Snapshot: Rio Tinto – Top 10 Stock in Australian Securities Exchange Index ASX 50
Rio Tinto is listed as a top 10 stock on January 30, 2025 in the market index ASX 50 because of its high performance in at least one of the Obermatt investment strategies. Two consolidated Obermatt Ranks are above-average. The company is safely financed and the professional investor sentiment is positive. Both are encouraging signals for a stock purchase decision, albeit at an above-average share price. Based on the Obermatt 360° View of 49 (49% performer), Obermatt assesses an overall hold recommendation for Rio Tinto on January 30, 2025.
Snapshot: Obermatt Ranks
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Industry | Diversified Metals & Mining |
| Index | ASX 100, ASX 200, ASX 300, ASX 50, FTSE All Shares, FTSE 100, FTSE 350, Copper, Dividends Europe, Human Rights, Iron, Lithium, Low Waste, Silver, Water Efficiency |
| Size class | XX-Large |
When Obermatt identifies the Top 10 stocks in a market, it’s based on a certain investment strategy. The best performing stocks usually aren’t the ones that everyone is talking about (those are often "over-priced" and have low Value ranks).
For each investment strategy, we provide you with more detailed analysis and our recommendation. You see the ranks of the top 10 stocks ranked by that particular investment strategy (360° View, Sentiment, Value, Growth, Safety and Combined Financial Performance).
360° View: Obermatt 360° View Rio Tinto Hold
| 360 METRICS | January 30, 2025 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 23 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 47 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 65 |
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| SENTIMENT | ||||||||
| SENTIMENT | 71 |
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| 360° VIEW | ||||||||
| 360° VIEW | 49 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt 360° View of 49 (better than 49% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and financial characteristics for the stock Rio Tinto are below the industry average. The 360° View is based on consolidating four consolidated indicators, with half below and half above average for Rio Tinto. The consolidated Sentiment Rank has a good rank of 71, which means that professional investors are more optimistic about the stock than for 71% of alternative investment opportunities. It also rates well regarding its financing structure, with the consolidated Safety Rank at 65 or better than 65% of its peers when looking at the amount of its debt, its refinancing requirements, and its ability to service debt. But the stock is expensive and expects low growth. The consolidated Value Rank is only 23, meaning that the share price of Rio Tinto is on the high side, compared with indicators such as revenues, profits, and invested capital. The company exhibits below-average growth momentum when looking at financial metrics such as revenue, profit, invested capital growth,and stock returns, with its Growth Rank at 47. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated 360° View of 49, Rio Tinto is worse than 51% of all alternative stock investment opportunities based on the Obermatt Method. As only half of the consolidated Obermatt Ranks exhibit excellent performance, namely the positive professional market sentiment (Sentiment Rank of 71) and safe financing practices (Safety Rank of 65), the case for investing in this stock needs further thought. The Value and the Safety Ranks are below average. The Safety Rank is the least critical of the four consolidated ranks, because it only reflects financing practices. So the question is: How to assess below-average value against above-average sentiment? This may be a case where growth is in the future, not yet reflected in current performance. Companies that might fall into this category are those with intellectual property, such as technology and pharmaceutical companies. In early phases, they are expensive relative to their size and have a lot of capital on their books, as is the case here. Investors expect a better future and are willing to pay a higher price than is warranted by the current company size. These higher prices drive stock price value down in the short term. In this case, future growth may be the strongest driver of the investment case, reflected by institutional investors' opinions. With a weak Value Rank, the question is how much to sacrifice value at the cost of positive sentiment. Sometimes market sentiment is just hype, but sometimes it is right. You pay more than market-average for this stock, but it may be worth it, if the future of Rio Tintọ is bright. Prudent investors may only want to invest a smaller portion of their wealth in such situations. Young investors can carry more risk but should still thrive for sufficient diversification. ...read more
Sentiment Strategy: Professional Market Sentiment for Rio Tinto positive
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Sentiment Rank of 71 (better than 71% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and engagement for the stock Rio Tinto is above average. The Sentiment Rank is based on consolidating four sentiment indicators, with half of the metrics below and half above average for Rio Tinto. Analyst Opinions are at a rank of 41 (worse than 59% of alternative investments), which means that currently, stock research analysts tend to warn against investing in the stock of the company. Worse, Analyst Opinions Change has a rank of 27, which means that stock research experts are getting even more pessimistic. Other sentiment indicators are positive: The Professional Investors rank is 57, which means that professional investors hold more stock in this company than in 57% of alternative investment opportunities. So, pros tend to favor investing in this company. In addition, Market Pulse has a rank of 72, which means that the current professional news and professional social networks tend to be positive when discussing this company (more positive news than for 72% of competitors). While stock research analysts are getting ever more critical, many professional investors are committed to Rio Tinto and the professional news channels are on the positive side. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Sentiment Rank of 71 (more positive than 71% compared with investment alternatives), Rio Tinto has a reputation among professional investors that is above-average compared with that of its competitors. This is an ambiguous picture: analysts are negative and getting even more critical, while the news in the market is positive. Who should investors believe? This is a difficult question in such a situation. Investors should proceed cautiously and verify not only the financial performance in the Obermatt Value, Growth and Safety Ranks but also independent news coverage of the company. ...read more
Value Strategy: Rio Tinto Stock Price Value low
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 23 (worse than 77% compared with alternatives), Rio Tinto shares are significantly more expensive than comparable stocks. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for Rio Tinto. Price-to-Profit (also referred to as price-earnings, P/E) is 59 which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future profits is lower than for 59% of comparable companies, indicating a good value concerning Rio Tinto's profit levels. The same is valid for Price-to-Book Capital (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Book Rank of 21, which means that the stock price is lower as regards to invested capital than for 21% of comparable investments. On the other hand, Price-to-Sales is less favorable than 93% of alternatives (only 7% of peers have an even less favorable ratio). The same is valid for dividend yield, which is lower than 7% of comparable companies, making the stock more expensive as regards to the company's expected dividend payouts. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 23, is a sell recommendation based on Rio Tinto's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. This is a puzzling picture, because it means that profits are high while dividends are low. Since the stock price is low compared with invested capital but high in respect to expected revenues, it means that the company has more invested capital than peers for generating the same amount of revenue. Since profits are higher, it could be a "cash cow" situation (using the classic Boston Consulting BCG matrix naming convention) where the company is on a downward trend, still living from the profits of past products. As the company pays low dividends, it may harbor the opinion that a turnaround is possible, and it rather invests the cash than pay it out to shareholders, thus sealing the company's fate early. Any investment optimism should only be a buy trigger once thorough research is completed. ...read more
Growth Strategy: Rio Tinto Growth Momentum low
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 47 (better than 47% compared with alternatives), Rio Tinto shows a below-average growth dynamic in its industry. There is limited momentum in this company. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with all but one indicator above average for Rio Tinto. Profit Growth has a rank of 50 which means that currently professionals expect the company to grow its profits more than 50% of its competitors. The same is valid for capital growth and stock returns. Capital Growth has a rank of 84, and Stock Returns has a rank of 53 which means that the stock returns have recently been above 53% of alternative investments. Only revenue growth is low with a Sales Growth has a rank of 12 (88% of its competitors are better). ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 47, is a hold recommendation for growth and momentum investors. The many positive growth indicators indicate a positive growth momentum with only low revenue growth. That can also be attributed to divestments or the sale of unprofitable businesses. If that is the reason, overall growth is well on track to making this stock attractive for growth investors. ...read more
Safety Strategy: Rio Tinto Debt Financing Safety above-average
| SAFETY METRICS | January 30, 2025 | |||||||
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| LEVERAGE | ||||||||
| LEVERAGE | 69 |
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| REFINANCING | ||||||||
| REFINANCING | 20 |
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| LIQUIDITY | ||||||||
| LIQUIDITY | 82 |
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| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | 65 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 65 (better than 65% compared with alternatives), the company Rio Tinto has financing practices on the safer side, which mean that their overall debt burden is lower than average. This doesn't mean that the business of Rio Tinto is safe, it only means that the company is on the safer side regarding possible bankruptcy, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators, with two out of three indicators above average for Rio Tinto. Leverage is at a rank of 69, meaning the company has a below-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has less debt than 69% of its competitors. Liquidity is also good at a rank of 82, meaning the company generates more profit to service its debt than 82% of its competitors. This indicates that the company is on the safer side when it comes to debt service. But Refinancing is lower at a rank of 20, which means that the portion of the debt that is about to be refinanced is above-average. It has more debt in the refinancing stage than 80% of its competitors. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 65 (better than 65% compared with alternatives), Rio Tinto has a financing structure that is safer than that of its competitors. The refinancing issues could be a short-term problem, especially if the company has reputation issues. Banks and investors don't like to refinance debt if there are clouds on the horizon. For this reason, investors should look at the refinancing environment for Rio Tinto. Does it look safe that debt that is coming due can be covered with new debt? If that is the case, then the financing situation of the company is on the safer side. If not, it may be better to wait until refinancing has been completed and the Refinancing rank is good again. ...read more
Combined financial peformance: Rio Tinto Below-Average Financial Performance
| COMBINED PERFORMANCE | January 30, 2025 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 23 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 47 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 82 |
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| COMBINED | ||||||||
| COMBINED | 39 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 39 (worse than 61% compared with investment alternatives), Rio Tinto (Diversified Metals & Mining, United Kingdom) shares have somewhat below-average financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of Rio Tinto are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 23 (worse than 77% of alternatives) and show below-average growth (Growth Rank of 47) but are safely financed (Safety Rank of 65), which means low debt burdens. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 39, is a hold recommendation based on Rio Tinto's financial characteristics. As the company Rio Tinto's critical financial metrics exhibit below-average performance, such as low value (Obermatt Value Rank of 23) and low growth (Obermatt Growth Rank of 47), it is a somewhat questionable stock investment, where the risk of paying too much for the shares is significant, unless the company has an exceptionally bright future. In this case, good financing practices (Obermatt Safety Rank of 65) are a positive sign, because it may allow the company to weather challenging times until the hoped-for cash flows materialize. This may be true for high-tech or biotechnology companies with enough cash to sustain prolonged business development. If they own properties that only provide cash flows in the future, the stock may look excessively expensive and unattractive today. In such cases, the Obermatt Method has limited value, as it is based on facts we can observe today. If the facts lie all in the future, stock investing becomes guesswork, and this should only be a driver in a limited number of investments that account for a small fraction of a safe portfolio. ...read more
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