Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Stock Price Up 5.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) shot up 5.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $10.64 and last traded at $10.6050. 3,023,537 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 2,280,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SSL. Wall Street Zen raised Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Sasol Stock 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 $7.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sasol by 75.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Sasol by 1,627.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,025,934 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 966,539 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Sasol by 25.5% during the second 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. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Sasol by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 835,052 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,436,000 after purchasing an additional 285,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sasol by 11.9% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 767,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,392,000 after buying an additional 81,769 shares in the last quarter. 1.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.