Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Shares Up 5.2% – Should You Buy?

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) was up 5.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.67 and last traded at $12.6550. Approximately 1,544,895 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 2,430,103 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SSL has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group cut shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Sasol presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Sasol Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.10.

Institutional Trading of Sasol

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Sasol by 1,627.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,025,934 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after purchasing an additional 966,539 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sasol by 75.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,450,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,135,000 after buying an additional 624,911 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Sasol during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,079,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Sasol during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,006,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Sasol by 206.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 361,777 shares during the period. 1.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.