National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 76.4% in September

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 7,347,692 shares, a growth of 76.4% from the September 15th total of 4,164,960 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,711,858 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

National Steel Stock Performance

Shares of National Steel stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,765,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,242,976. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 1.55. National Steel has a fifty-two week low of $0.84 and a fifty-two week high of $2.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

National Steel (NYSE:SID) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The basic materials company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. National Steel had a negative net margin of 5.26% and a negative return on equity of 14.90%. On average, analysts forecast that National Steel will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of National Steel in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded National Steel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered National Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $1.40.

National Steel Company Profile

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, commonly known as CSN or National Steel, is a Brazilian industrial company engaged primarily in the production and sale of steel. Its product portfolio includes flat steel, long steel, galvanized steel and tinplate products, which serve customers in industries such as construction, automotive manufacturing, packaging and general manufacturing.

CSN also operates businesses that support its steel activities, including iron ore mining, cement production and logistics.