Investors Buy Large Volume of National Steel Call Options (NYSE:SID)

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 5,030 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,791% compared to the typical volume of 266 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of National Steel from $1.30 to $1.40 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of National Steel in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of National Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $1.40.

National Steel Stock Down 4.9%

SID traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $1.86. 1,765,063 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,170,132. National Steel has a fifty-two week low of $1.24 and a fifty-two week high of $1.96. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.97 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.55.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Steel

An institutional investor recently raised its position in National Steel stock. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) by 155.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 19,289 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in National Steel were worth $53,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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.