JPMorgan ups stake in Sibanye-Stillwater

JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) has boosted its stake in Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SSW, NYSE: SBSW), cementing its status as one of the South African miner’s top shareholders.

According to a securities filing on Tuesday, Sibanye said JPMorgan has acquired an amount of ordinary shares that would bring its equity stake to 5.66%. It follows the US bank’s two share purchases last year (March and June) for undisclosed amounts.

JPMorgan joins South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. (PIC) and BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) as the latest major shareholder to boost holdings in recent months.

In October, PIC brought its shareholding to over 20%, while BlackRock took its stake above 5% earlier this year.

Shares of Sibanye-Stillwater, however, fell 5.5% to around $11.80 in New York, about half of its all-time high set in January following BlackRock’s purchase. The company has a market capitalization of $8.6 billion.

The decline comes amid further weakness in precious metals, which the company mines across five continents. Gold fell another 2% on Tuesday, while platinum and palladium declined 2.9% and 1.5%, respectively.