The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is edging lower amid the company's eligible shareholders being rewarded today.
The mining giant's shares are currently down 1.32% to $116.74 apiece.
In context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is climbing during Thursday trade. The benchmark index is up 0.36% to 7,596.2 points.
Rio Tinto pays out FY21 final dividend
Rio Tinto reported record numbers across key metrics in its full year results for the 2021 financial year.
In summary, net cash from operating activities jumped 60% year-on-year to US$25.35 billion. This was driven by higher commodity prices.
Subsequently, this flowed through to 88% higher free cash flow of $17.7 billion for the company.
Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) soared 58% to US$37.72 billion.
At the end of the calendar year, Rio Tinto had $1.6 billion of net cash, compared with net debt of $0.7 billion at the start of the year.
As such, the board declared a fully franked dividend of $6.6284 per share to be paid on 21 April (today). This comprises of the 2021 final dividend of $5.7704 per share and a $0.8580 per share special dividend.
For those who elected in the dividend reinvestment plan (DRP), there was no discount rate offered by the company.
The $16.8 billion full-year dividend represents a payout of 79% of underlying earnings. This is above management's policy of retuning between 40% to 60% of underlying earnings to shareholders.
Rio Tinto share price summary
Despite moving in circles during recent times, the Rio Tinto share price has gained 16% in 2022.
When looking at the last 12 months, its shares have backtracked to post a loss of around 3%.
Rio Tinto has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.01 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $43.33 billion.
