Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $6.31, but opened at $6.94. Sasol shares last traded at $7.1750, with a volume of 943,342 shares traded.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sasol

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sasol by 347.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 6,957 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sasol during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sasol by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 4,482 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sasol in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sasol in the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

Sasol Trading Up 6.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.20.

About Sasol

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company’s core operations encompass the conversion of natural gas, coal and heavy hydrocarbons into liquid fuels and a wide array of chemical products. Sasol leverages proprietary Fischer-Tropsch and gas-to-liquids (GTL) technologies to deliver cleaner-burning diesel, jet fuel and naphtha, alongside solvents, surfactants and specialty polymers for industrial and consumer applications.

In addition to its GTL business, Sasol operates downstream facilities for the manufacture of alpha olefins, ethylene, propylene and other base-chemical intermediates.