Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.09, but opened at $8.63. Sasol shares last traded at $8.8310, with a volume of 1,283,960 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sasol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sasol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Sasol Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.54.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sasol

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SSL. Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Sasol during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Sasol by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 30,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sasol in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in Sasol by 202.7% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 61,490 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 41,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sasol during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.