Hedge Funds Are Buying Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late.

To the average investor, there are many methods shareholders can use to track stocks. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action regarding Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE).

What have hedge funds been doing with Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 26 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors had the largest position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE), worth close to $26.9 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On SAC Capital Advisors’s heels is Daniel S. Och of OZ Management, with a $26.2 million call position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, created the biggest call position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE). OZ Management had 26.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital also made a $20.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NUE investors: John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Insider trading activity in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE). These stocks are Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (ADR) (NYSE:SID), POSCO (ADR) (NYSE:PKX), Tenaris S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TS), ArcelorMittal (ADR) (NYSE:MT), and Gerdau SA (ADR) (NYSE:GGB). This group of stocks are the members of the steel & iron industry and their market caps are similar to NUE’s market cap.