National Steel Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SID)

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 5,030 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,791% compared to the typical daily volume of 266 call options.

National Steel Stock Down 5.5%

NYSE SID traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $1.80. 5,425,497 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,959,120. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.56 and a beta of 1.67. National Steel has a 1 year low of $1.24 and a 1 year high of $1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.56.

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 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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that National Steel will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of National Steel

An institutional investor recently raised its position in National Steel stock. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) by 155.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.