Kodak rockets 65% after hedge fund scoops up nearly 4 million shares
- Eastman Kodak soared as much as 65% on Tuesday after an SEC filing revealed hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co. buying more than 3.9 million shares of the company.
- The purchase represents a 5.2% stake in Kodak.
- Kodak's stock price has settled around 40% higher year-to-date after surging on the announcement of a $765 million government loan.
- Claims of insider trading and government scrutiny have since placed the loan on ice.
- Watch Kodak trade live here.
Eastman Kodak spiked as much as 65% on Tuesday after hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co. revealed a new stake in the volatile stock.
The New York-based fund bought more than 3.9 million shares of the camera company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published Monday. The position represents a 5.2% stake in Kodak and is set to lift shares to their highest since mid-August.
The stock has settled around $6 per share after outsized volatility pushed prices as high as $60 in late July. Kodak rallied higher on July 28 after the Trump administration announced a $765 million loan for the firm to produce drug ingredients. The surge continued into July 29, and by the end of the session, shares closed more than 1,200% higher from their July 27 levels.
The company has since been besieged by pullbacks and accusations of insider trading. The SEC on August 4 began investigating trading of Kodak shares in the days leading up to the White House's announcement. Trading volumes leaped higher in the hours before the official reveal, prompting lawmakers including Sen. Elizabeth Warren to call for a probe of the matter.
One day later, House Democrats launched an investigation into Kodak and the government office that granted the $765 million loan.
Shares crashed more than 30% on August 10 after the US Internal Development Corp froze the government loan. The sum remains on ice, but Kodak shares are still up 44% year-to-date as investors hold out hope for the funds to be approved.
Kodak closed at $5.98 per share on Monday.
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