The top ten widely held ADRs by institutions as measured by ownership value (in $s) as of August end 2012 are listed below in descending order:
1.Company:Vodafone (VOD)
Current Dividend Yield: 5.14%
Sector: Telecom
Country: UK
2.Company: Baidu Inc (BIDU)
Current Dividend Yield: N/A
Sector: China
Country: Technology
3.Company: Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDS.A)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.81%
Sector: Energy
Country: The Netherlands
4.Company: Daimler AG (DDAIF)
Current Dividend Yield: 5.53%
Sector: Consumer Durables
Country: Germany
5.Company: America Movil SAB DE CV (AMX)
Current Dividend Yield: 1.12%
Sector: Telecom
Country: Mexico
6.Company: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd. (TSM)
Current Dividend Yield: 3.36%
Sector: Technology
Country: Taiwan
7.Company: Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.B)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.68%
Sector: Energy
Country: UK
8.Company: Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd (TEVA)
Current Dividend Yield: 2.47%
Sector: Generic Drugs
Country: Israel
9.Company: BP Plc (BP)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.47%
Sector: Energy
Country: UK
10.Company: Petrobras (PBR)
Current Dividend Yield: 5.18%
Sector: Energy
Country: Brazil
Source: ADR.com
Five of the ADRs from this list (AMX, VOD, BIDU, PBR and TEVA) were also in the widely-held ADRs in 2010. It is not surprising to see global oil giants Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Petrobras. However BP has rebounded strongly from the depths of the Deepwater Horizon spill in April, 2010.
Disclosure: Long PBR