Hedge Funds Are Buying These Steel Stocks

#2 Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

– Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 29

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $524.2 million

Moving on, the stock of steel products manufacturer Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) has appreciated by over 25% so far this year, but is finding it extremely hard to break its stiff resistance near the $51 mark. During the first quarter, the number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey long Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) increased by nine and the aggregate value of their holdings in it jumped by 74%. However, legendary trader and billionaire Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asia (Singapore) slashed its holding in the company by 35% to 650,000 shares during the same period. Nucor Corporation pays a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, which even after the rise in its stock still translates into an attractive annual dividend yield of over 3% currently. On May 10, analysts at Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their ‘Neutral’ rating on the stock, while boosting their price target on it to $51 from $47.

#1 Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

– Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 35

– Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $805.45 million

Finally, not only did Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) saw an increase in its popularity among funds soar during the first quarter, its stock also appreciated by over 26.76% during that period. Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)’s stock currently trades with year-to-date gains of 44%, which is the highest gain registered by any stock covered in this list so far in 2016. The ownership of the company among funds covered by us increased by 25% and the aggregate value of their holdings in it increased by over 50% during the first quarter. Funds that boosted their stake in Steel Dynamics during that period included Dmitry Balyasny‘s Balyasny Asset Management, which increased its holding by 91% to 5.32 million shares and became its largest shareholder at the end of March among funds covered by us. Currently, Steel Dynamics’ stock sports an average rating of ‘Overweight’ and an average price target of $26.88 from the 18 analysts on the Street who cover it.

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