Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Sasol (NYSE:SSL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sasol from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Sasol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Sasol Stock Performance

NYSE:SSL opened at $13.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Sasol has a 52-week low of $4.30 and a 52-week high of $14.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sarushen Dhanapalan Pillay sold 2,182 shares of Sasol stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $28,671.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,313 shares in the company, valued at $214,352.82. The trade was a 11.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sasol

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sasol by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,450,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,135,000 after acquiring an additional 624,911 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 966,539 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sasol during the 1st quarter worth $11,284,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 835,052 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,436,000 after buying an additional 285,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Sasol by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 796,208 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,319,000 after buying an additional 23,994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.