| Yesterday | ||||
As previously reported,… As previously reported, Credit Suisse analyst Carsten Riek upgraded BHP Group (BHP) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of 1,600 GBp, down from 1,900 GBp, after assuming coverage of the name. With the market now discounting terminal growth of -3% in the shares, the analyst prefers BHP over Rio Tinto (RIO). BHP's portfolio of large projects in attractive markets has long "made it a quality name" in the mining space, and Riek likes that BHP retains this strategy with growth projects. | ||||
| Friday | ||||
Goldman Sachs analyst… Goldman Sachs analyst Paul Young assumed coverage of Rio Tinto with an unchanged Buy rating. The analyst says the stock is a "free cash flow and valuation story", though its operational issues are restricting production growth this year. Young adds that Rio Tinto is well positioned and he sees the company generating free cash flow of $6B-$7B per year. | ||||
| Thursday | ||||
Pentwater Capital… Pentwater Capital Management, a long-term supportive investor and the largest minority shareholder of Turquoise Hill (TRQ), owning, together with its affiliates and associates, approximately 9.09% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares, today filed a proxy circular, GOLD proxy card, and issued a letter to shareholders of Turquoise Hill in connection with the Company's upcoming annual and special meeting. "Since Rio Tinto (RIO) gained control of Turquoise Hill in 2012, Pentwater has grown increasingly alarmed at the significant value destruction and mismanagement of and failure to make material disclosures about the Company and its material asset - the Oyu Tolgoi Project - at the hands of Rio Tinto and its hand-picked Turquoise Hill officers and directors. The tangled web that has been woven between Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill has resulted in a lack of corporate governance controls, systemic disregard for the interests of minority shareholders, a sustained period of false and misleading disclosures and irreparable harm to the interests of all Turquoise Hill stakeholders. | ||||
| Over a week ago | ||||
BMO Capital analyst… BMO Capital analyst Edward Sterck upgraded Rio Tinto to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of 4,200 GBp, down from 4,650 GBp. On BMO's reduced commodity price forecasts, Rio Tinto shows an increase to forecast earnings due to iron ore prices remaining essentially flat while freight rates and oil/diesel costs have fallen, Sterck tells investors in a research note. The analyst thinks Rio Tinto presents a "good safe haven option" that should outperform peers during the COVID-19 pandemic. | ||||
Exane BNP Paribas analyst… Exane BNP Paribas analyst Jatinder Goel upgraded Rio Tinto to Outperform from Neutral with a 4,190 GBp price target. | ||||
Rio Tinto said that, as a… Rio Tinto said that, as a result of separate actions by the Premier of Quebec and the President of South Africa to contain the spread of COVID-19, it will slow down some of its operations. At Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa Rio Tinto will curtail production in compliance with a directive from the Government aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19. As a result, all mining operations at RBM will be halted by midnight on Thursday, 26 March, for 21 days. In line with the President's directive, Rio Tinto will make arrangements for the furnaces to be put on care and maintenance in order to avoid damage to their continuous operations. At this time, it is too early to speculate on when operations will resume or on 2020 production guidance. Resumption of the construction of the Zulti South project will be delayed. In Canada, because of the threat of COVID-19, the Premier of Quebec has announced the closure of all non-essential businesses from midnight on 24 March 2020 to 13 April. Rio Tinto understands that the Quebec government has designated industrial complexes including the aluminium sector and the mining industry as essential industries but instructed that they must reduce their business activity to the minimum. We will work with the government to comply with its directive in relation to our Quebec operations. Any impacts to operations or production guidance will be reported to the market in due course. | |
Rio Tinto's… Rio Tinto's Kennecott mine near Salt Lake City, Utah, was today impacted as a result of a 5.7-magnitude earthquake close to the town of Magna. All employees have been safely accounted for and evacuated from the potential risk areas. At this stage we have identified limited damage to the operation or risk to the surrounding community. A detailed inspection of the complex is currently being conducted, in conjunction with the local emergency services and Utah Department of Transportation. As a precaution, all operations have been temporarily halted and, in line with standard procedures pre-agreed with the Utah Department of Transportation, State Road 201 has been temporarily closed while the inactive South tailings storage facility is inspected. | |
Rio Tinto has agreed to… Rio Tinto has agreed to pay former CEO Sam Walsh millions of dollars in deferred bonus payments despite continuing bribery investigations, raising corporate governance concerns, The Financial Times' Jamie Smyth and Neil Hume report. Walsh is due to receive future payments worth up to A$17M from Rio under incentive schemes covering his tenure as CEO, the report notes. Reference Link |
| Over a month ago | ||||
Societe Generale analyst… Societe Generale analyst Sergey Donskoy upgraded Rio Tinto to Buy from Hold. The analyst said that while the company's near-term earnings outlook is "somewhat opaque due to risks to commodity demand," he believes the share price, which has corrected over 15% due to the coronavirus panic, does not fully reflect "solid" long-term fundamentals. He added that the iron ore market has "demonstrated notable resilience" and sees price benchmarks remaining supported in the near term. Donskoy sees the correction in Rio Tinto shares as a buying opportunity. | ||||
Societe Generale upgraded… Societe Generale upgraded Rio Tinto to Buy from Hold. | ||||