National Steel (NYSE:SID) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $1.67, but opened at $1.74. National Steel shares last traded at $1.7550, with a volume of 614,517 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SID. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of National Steel in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised National Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $1.30.

National Steel Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.44 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1.61 and its 200-day moving average is $1.51.

National Steel (NYSE:SID) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The basic materials company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.09). National Steel had a negative net margin of 2.88% and a negative return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Equities research analysts expect that National Steel Company will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of National Steel by 155.7% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 19,289 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in National Steel by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 46,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 8,798 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in National Steel by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 62,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 18,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in National Steel by 0.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,187,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,653,000 after buying an additional 13,632 shares in the last quarter.

National Steel Company Profile

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.