The Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price has gained 11% since early last week. What's been happening?

Fortescue counts among the top-10 dividend paying companies in the world.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published March 25, 2022 12:17 pm AEDT

The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is marching higher today, up 0.5%.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) iron ore miner closed yesterday at $18.94 and are currently trading for $19.04.

That puts the Fortescue share price up 11% since the closing bell on 15 March.

So why is the miner having such a good run?

A miner in a hardhat and high visibility clothing makes a thumbs up symbol. — Image source: Getty Images

What's been piquing ASX 200 investor interest?

One of the tailwinds helping push the Fortescue share price sharply higher has been the rebound in iron ore prices.

The industrial metal is currently trading for US$146 per tonne, up from US$136 per tonne on 15 March.

That's also helped propel rival ASX 200 miners BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) to roughly 9% gains over the same period.

The Fortescue share price may have gotten an extra boost, as unlike its 2 major rivals, the miner is almost a pure iron ore play.

Income investors may also be attracted to the company after it made the list of top-10 dividend paying companies in the world earlier this month. (Full details here.)

At the current price, Fortescue pays a whopping trailing dividend yield of 15.6%.

Fortescue share price snapshot

Despite the big recent rally, the Fortescue share price has underperformed that of BHP and Rio Tinto in 2022.

Year-to-date, Fortescue shares are down 4.1%. By comparison BHP and Rio Tinto shares have both gained 17.1% over that same period.

Year-to-date the ASX 200 is down 2.2%.

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