Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares not only offer the potential for capital gains, but they can provide a pretty handy passive income stream to boot.
On the capital gains front, Rio Tinto shares are up 2% over the past 12 months. That compares to a one-year gain of 1% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Of course, the above chart doesn't include the passive income shareholders will have received from dividends.
Rio Tinto shares delivered a fully franked interim dividend of $3.837 per share, paid out on 22 September. Rio's final dividend of $3.265 landed in shareholders' bank accounts on 20 April.
At the current share price of $108.59, the ASX 200 miner trades at a trailing yield of 6.5%.
Or $327 in passive income from a $5,000 investment at today's share price.
But what if you'd bought late in February 2022, shortly before Rio Tinto traded ex its final dividend for the year?
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How much passive income have Rio Tinto shares delivered since February 2022?
Rio Tinto shares traded without rights to the final dividend on 10 March 2022.
On the back of soaring iron ore prices and frothy profits, passive income investors were rewarded with a record high final dividend of $6.628 per share. That was paid out on 21 April 2022.
If you'd bought $5,000 worth of shares a few weeks before the miner traded ex-dividend you would have banked that passive income as well.
On 25 February, the stock closed at $108.59.
That would have enabled you to buy 46 shares with enough change left over for some coffee.
You would also be eligible for all three dividend payments made over the past 16 months.
So, let's work the numbers.
Each Rio Tinto share will have delivered a total of $13.73 in dividends.
So, your $5,000 investment last February would have returned a very tidy $631.58 in passive income already, with potential tax benefits from the franking credits.
