National Steel (NYSE:SID) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1.92 and last traded at $1.9150, with a volume of 1525177 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SID has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of National Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on National Steel from $1.30 to $1.40 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of National Steel in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $1.40.

National Steel Stock Down 5.5%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.56. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.56 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.

National Steel (NYSE:SID) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. National Steel had a negative net margin of 2.88% and a negative return on equity of 7.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that National Steel Company will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Steel

An institutional investor recently raised its position in National Steel stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 (SEC). The fund owned 31,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,289 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in National Steel were worth $53,000 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.