Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $14.21 and last traded at $14.2750, with a volume of 30843 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.87.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on SSL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sasol presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sasol by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 20,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sasol by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sasol by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,317 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in shares of Sasol by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 14,269 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Sasol by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 62,848 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

Sasol Stock Down 3.2%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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.