National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 76.4% in September

National Steel Company (NYSE:SID) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 7,347,692 shares, an increase of 76.4% from the September 15th total of 4,164,960 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,711,858 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SID. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of National Steel in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Steel from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of National Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to MarketBeat, National Steel has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $1.40.

National Steel Price Performance

NYSE:SID traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,719,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,017,352. National Steel has a fifty-two week low of $0.84 and a fifty-two week high of $2.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.11 and a 200-day moving average of $1.15.

National Steel (NYSE:SID) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The basic materials company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12). National Steel had a negative return on equity of 14.90% and a negative net margin of 5.26%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that National Steel will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Steel Company Profile

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, commonly known as CSN or National Steel, is a Brazilian industrial company engaged primarily in the production and sale of steel. Its product portfolio includes flat steel, long steel, galvanized steel and tinplate products, which serve customers in industries such as construction, automotive manufacturing, packaging and general manufacturing.

CSN also operates businesses that support its steel activities, including iron ore mining, cement production and logistics.