Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $13.45, but opened at $12.78. Sasol shares last traded at $12.6940, with a volume of 171,351 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SSL. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sasol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Sasol Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sarushen Dhanapalan Pillay sold 2,182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $28,671.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,352.82. This represents a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Sasol during the first quarter worth $228,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 40.6% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 166,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,157,000 after buying an additional 48,086 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 14.3% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 159,063 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 19,940 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 41.8% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 14,678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $190,000 after buying an additional 4,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 3.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 796,208 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,319,000 after buying an additional 23,994 shares in the last quarter. 1.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.