Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $14.47 and last traded at $14.3650, with a volume of 604591 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.30.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Sasol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Investec assumed coverage on shares of Sasol in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Sasol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sasol in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Sasol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sasol by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,450,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,135,000 after acquiring an additional 624,911 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sasol by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 37,412 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sasol during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Sasol by 7,082.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 59,395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 58,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sasol by 347.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 6,957 shares during the period. 1.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sasol Stock Up 7.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.74.

Sasol (NYSE:SSL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sasol Ltd. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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.