Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Sasol (NYSE:SSL) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Sasol Stock Up 6.2%

Shares of SSL opened at $7.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.20. Sasol has a one year low of $2.78 and a one year high of $7.54. 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 Trading of Sasol

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 1,627.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,025,934 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,381,000 after buying an additional 966,539 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Sasol by 75.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,450,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,135,000 after acquiring an additional 624,911 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Sasol during the third quarter worth $3,079,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Sasol during the third quarter worth $3,006,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Sasol by 206.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 361,777 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

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.