National Steel (NYSE:SID) Shares Up 6% – Time to Buy?

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID)’s share price was up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1.32 and last traded at $1.3150. 4,876,547 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 4,586,157 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of National Steel in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of National Steel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded National Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, National Steel currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $1.40.

National Steel Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.04 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.15.

National Steel (NYSE:SID) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The basic materials company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 14.90% and a negative net margin of 5.26%. On average, equities analysts expect that National Steel Company will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of National Steel

An institutional investor recently raised its stake in National Steel stock. HRT Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) by 175.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 564,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 359,335 shares during the period. HRT Financial LP’s holdings in National Steel were worth $902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

About National Steel

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional operates as an integrated steel producer in Brazil and Latin America. It operates through five segments: Steel Industry, Mining, Logistics, Energy, and Cement. The company offers flat steel products, such as hot and cold rolled, galvanized, galvalume, pre-painted, and metal sheets products; coil, sheets, and derivatives; tiles and derivatives, pipes, and profiles; long steel products; steel packaging solutions for the food industry; chemical packaging solution; and carbochemical products.