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

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . 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 changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SSL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sasol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sasol has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell”.

Sasol Stock Up 12.6%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sasol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sasol by 240.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 261,467 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 184,704 shares in the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Sasol in the 2nd quarter valued at about $833,000. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Sasol by 157.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 246,324 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 150,491 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sasol by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 890,502 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after purchasing an additional 180,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sasol by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 767,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,392,000 after purchasing an additional 81,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

Sasol Company Profile

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.