Morgan Stanley (MS) disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that it now holds a 5.1% stake in Daqo New Energy (DQ).
The banking giant said that as of May 14 it owned 16.4 million ordinary shares of Daqo, equivalent to 656,100 of the U.S.-traded American depositary shares, as each ADS represents 25 ordinary shares. That position makes it the Chinese firm’s fourth-largest shareholder, according to S&P Capital IQ. Daqo, based in Chongqing, manufactures high-purity polysilicon for the solar photovoltaic industry.
The ADS has heated up quickly this month. Morgan Stanley’s stake was valued at $39.5 million at the May 14 closing price of $60.26. Based on Daqo’s closing price of $65.52 on Monday, Morgan Stanley’s stake is now valued at $43 million.
Morgan Stanley held a mere 19,000 Daqo ADSs at the end of the first quarter, so it must have acquired hundreds of thousands of ADSs in April and early May.
The ADSs have made some hay. So far this year, through Monday’s close, Daqo has gained 10%.
In August, Morgan Stanley’s own research department rated Daqo an Outperform and highlighted it as a “Top 5 Climate Change Impact” stock.
Source: barrons
