Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares enjoyed a strong run on Thursday.
ASX investors were in a buying mood amid news that US President Donald Trump paused his intended tariff hikes on dozens of nations for 90 days.
Atop tailwinds from a 2% increase in the iron ore price to US$97 per tonne, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant closed up 6.35% yesterday, trading for $110.59 apiece.
Despite that boost, Rio Tinto shares remain down over 13% over the past 12 months.
The miner has come under selling pressure as iron ore prices have retraced from highs of US$120 per tonne last May.
Still, at US$97 per tonne on Thursday, the industrial metal was trading well above the US$82 that the same tonne was fetching five years ago.
And so is the ASX 200 miner's share price.
Now, five years ago, global markets were only just beginning to recover from the historic crash suffered during the early outbreak of the COVID pandemic.
Meaning there was still plenty of fear clouding the medium-term outlook for ASX stocks.
But investors who channelled Warren Buffett's advice to "be greedy when others are fearful", and bought Rio Tinto shares in early April 2020 will have done quite well.
How well?
Let's find out!
(Note, we're excluding any potential brokerage fees here, and some figures are rounded.)
How have Rio Tinto shares fared over the last five years?
On 9 April 2020, you could have picked up Rio Tinto shares for $89.39 apiece.
That means for $10,000, you could have bought 111 shares with enough change left over for a steak dinner.
At yesterday's closing price of $110.59 a share, that investment would now be worth $12,275.
Or a gain of 22.75%.
But wait. There's more…
Don't forget the dividends!
Rio Tinto shares are popular among passive income investors for the miner's juicy dividend yield.
If you'd bought the ASX 200 miner five years ago, you would have been eligible to receive the last 10 dividend payouts. That includes the all-time high interim Rio Tinto dividend paid in 2021 of $7.60 per share
The latest interim dividend of $3.54 per share will be paid next week, on 17 April. Rio Tinto stock traded ex-dividend on 6 March.
Adding them all up then, those 10 dividend payouts work out to $41.34 per share, fully franked.
If we add that back into yesterday's closing price of $110.59, then the accumulated value of the Rio Tinto shares you bought in April 2020 for $89.39 apiece now stands at $151.93 a share.
Meaning those 111 shares purchased for $10,000 are worth $16,864 today.
