Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.13 and last traded at $8.0950, with a volume of 946713 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SSL. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sasol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sasol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Sasol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Sasol Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Institutional Trading of Sasol

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Sasol by 240.6% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 261,467 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 184,704 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in Sasol during the second quarter valued at about $833,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in Sasol by 157.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 246,324 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 150,491 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Sasol by 25.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 890,502 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after purchasing an additional 180,827 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sasol by 11.9% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 767,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,392,000 after purchasing an additional 81,769 shares in the last quarter. 1.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.