Rio Tinto Group (RIO) Competitors

BHP Group (LON:BHP) and Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Is BHP or RIO a better dividend stock?

BHP Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 1.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Rio Tinto Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 3.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. BHP Group pays out 70.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Rio Tinto Group pays out 63.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Rio Tinto Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BHP or RIO?

35.2% of BHP Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.5% of Rio Tinto Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of BHP Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Rio Tinto Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation and earnings, BHP or RIO?

Rio Tinto Group has higher revenue and earnings than BHP Group. Rio Tinto Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BHP Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BHP Group	£51.26B	2.06	£9.92B	£1.77	1,171.93
Rio Tinto Group	£53.73B	1.49	£13.82B	£6.28	785.32

Do analysts rate BHP or RIO?

BHP Group currently has a consensus price target of GBX 1,920, suggesting a potential downside of 7.65%. Rio Tinto Group has a consensus price target of GBX 5,325, suggesting a potential upside of 7.99%. Given Rio Tinto Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Rio Tinto Group is more favorable than BHP Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BHP Group	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.67
Rio Tinto Group	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the media favor BHP or RIO?

In the previous week, BHP Group had 13 more articles in the media than Rio Tinto Group. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for BHP Group and 2 mentions for Rio Tinto Group. Rio Tinto Group's average media sentiment score of 0.88 beat BHP Group's score of 0.02 indicating that Rio Tinto Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
BHP Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Rio Tinto Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is BHP or RIO more profitable?

Rio Tinto Group has a net margin of 19.84% compared to BHP Group's net margin of 14.09%. Rio Tinto Group's return on equity of 19.57% beat BHP Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BHP Group	14.09%	18.32%	13.98%
Rio Tinto Group	19.84%	19.57%	9.23%

Which has more risk and volatility, BHP or RIO?

BHP Group has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rio Tinto Group has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rio Tinto Group beats BHP Group on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.