Sasol Ltd. $SSL Stock: Hennessy Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 609,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 59,600 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sasol were worth $8,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SSL. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Sasol by 123.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,381,209 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $13,563,000 after acquiring an additional 762,796 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position 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 valued at $10,319,000 after purchasing an additional 23,994 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position 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 valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 48,086 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 19,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sasol by 258.7% during the first quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 99,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 71,400 shares during the last quarter. 1.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sasol

In other news, EVP Sandile Lawrence Siyaya sold 2,842 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total transaction of $36,093.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 301 shares in the company, valued at $3,822.70. This trade represents a 90.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Walt Bruns sold 7,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total transaction of $100,203.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 54,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,775.60. The trade was a 12.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,412 shares of company stock valued at $800,983 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Sasol Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SSL opened at $17.30 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.44 and its 200 day moving average is $11.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Sasol Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $5.97 and a fifty-two week high of $18.19.

Sasol (NYSE:SSL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Sasol Ltd. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SSL shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sasol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sasol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Sasol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sasol currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Sasol Profile

Sasol Limited is an integrated chemicals and energy company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company develops and commercializes technologies that convert coal and natural gas into fuels, chemical feedstocks and other products, including through Fischer–Tropsch processes. Its portfolio includes fuel components, solvents, alcohols, surfactants, waxes, polymers and other specialty and performance chemicals used in industrial and consumer applications.

Sasol’s operations have historically been centered in South Africa, where the company operates major energy and chemicals facilities, with additional manufacturing, research and marketing activities in international markets.