The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has not had the easiest time of late, as most ASX investors would be all too aware of. Over the past six months, the ASX 200 is still down by around 3.4% on today's pricing, including by around 4% in 2022 so far. But one ASX 200 share has put those figures well and truly to shame. That is the South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price.
South32 shares have comprehensively defied the broader market over the past six months. Not only is this mining company up more than 12% in 2022 thus far, but South32 has put on an impressive 60.5% since late August. Not a bad return for an old blue chip miner. Especially one that was once kicked out of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).
So why have South32 shares been such a lucrative investment in recent times?
Well, it's likely due to a number of factors. The first is commodity prices. South32 is a diversified miner with operations across aluminium, lead, nickel, silver, zinc, and manganese. Fortunately for the company, most of these commodities have enjoyed significant price rises in recent months. Perhaps due to inflation concerns, raw materials across the board have benefitted in recent months. These include iron ore, oil, gold, and many of the metals listed above.
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Are earnings and broker buys lifting the South32 share price?
But South32 is also putting rubber to the road here. It was only last week that the company reported its half-year earnings. As we covered at the time, South32 reported a US$979 million increase in statutory profit after tax to US$1.032 billion for the half. Underlying earnings rose by US$868 million to just over US$1 billion.
The miner also announced another US$60 million for on-market share buybacks and a monster 8.7 US cents per share interim dividend, its largest ever. This report was well received. South32 shares jumped almost 5% on its release and remain up substantially as of today.
But South32 has been showered with love from some of the ASX's biggest brokers recently too. This has likely helped its share price rise as well. Just last week, broker Morgans gave South32 an add rating, along with a 12-month share price target of $4.90. That implies even more upside — 7.2% — is ahead of the company over the next year.
So everything seems to be going right for South32 in recent times, which is probably why we have seen such an enthusiastic response from ASX 200 investors over the past six months.
At the current South32 share price, the ASX 200 miner has a market capitalisation of $21.2 billion, with a trailing dividend yield of 3.72%.
