Southern Copper cuts dividend by (another) 50% in October 2022

Southern Copper has cut its dividend two times in 2022 for a total decrease of 50%.

On October 21, 2022, Southern Copper (trading symbol SCCO) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, down 50% from the previous dividend of $0.75 quarterly per share. Its the second dividend cut by the copper miner.  The dividend yield is more than 4%.

Southern Copper Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share of common stock, payable on November 23, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 09, 2022. 

The SCCO stock price is down 21% YTD.

The new annual dividend rate of $2.00 per share will yield 4.1% at a stock price of $48.78 for SCCO. This new cut is the second in 2022 for SCCO (see below). Many US stocks are raising their dividend every year, such as boiler maker A.O. Smith.

SOUTHERN COPPER (SCCO) QUARTERLY DIVIDENDS

• $0.50 per share (Ex-dividend: November 8, 2022)
• $0.75 per share (August 10, 2022)
• $1.25 per share (May 16, 2022)
• $1.00 per share (Feb. 14, 2022)
• $1.00 per share (Q4 2021)
• $0.90 per share (Q3 2021)
• $0.70 per share (Q2 2021)
• $0.60 per share (Q1 2021)
• $0.50 per share (Q4 2020)
• $0.40 per share (Q3 2020)
• $0.20 per share (Q2 2020)
• $0.40 per share (Q1 2020)

Earlier this year Southern Copper already announced a 40% dividend cut from $1.25 to $0.75 quarterly per share. However, the dividend was first hiked by 25% to $1.25 per share this May. This means a total dividend cut of 50% YTD. The current dividend of 50 cents quarterly still is the highest in years for SCCO, despite the double cut in 2022. Another US company cutting its dividend recently is Steelcase. Several other companies have suspended their dividend this year.

Southern Copper Corporation is one of the largest integrated copper producers in the world and has the largest copper reserves of the industry. We are a NYSE and Lima Stock Exchange listed company that is 88.9% owned by Grupo Mexico, a Mexican company listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. The remaining 11.1% ownership interest is held by the international investment community. We operate mining units and metallurgical facilities in Mexico, Peru and conduct exploration activities in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.