National Steel (NYSE:SID) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $1.38, but opened at $1.32. National Steel shares last traded at $1.2750, with a volume of 1,203,260 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

National Steel Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.78 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.19.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.12). The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, analysts forecast that National Steel Company will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of National Steel

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in National Steel stock. HRT Financial LP raised its stake in shares of National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) by 175.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 564,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359,335 shares during the period. HRT Financial LP’s holdings in National Steel were worth $902,000 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.