Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company.

Several brokerages have weighed in on SSL. Bank of America raised shares of Sasol from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sasol from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sasol from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Victor Bester sold 2,852 shares of Sasol stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.70, for a total value of $36,220.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $341,058.50. This trade represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Walt Bruns sold 1,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.14, for a total value of $25,423.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,819 shares in the company, valued at $775,140.66. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 60,412 shares of company stock valued at $800,983 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sasol

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new position in Sasol in the first quarter worth about $11,284,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Sasol by 123.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,381,209 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,563,000 after buying an additional 762,796 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Sasol during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,084,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sasol during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,231,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Sasol by 258.7% during the 1st quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 99,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 71,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

Sasol Stock Performance

Shares of SSL stock opened at $17.44 on Friday. Sasol has a fifty-two week low of $5.97 and a fifty-two week high of $17.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.65.

Sasol (NYSE:SSL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.61 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sasol will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Sasol Company Profile

Sasol Limited is an integrated chemicals and energy company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company develops and commercializes technologies that convert coal and natural gas into fuels, chemical feedstocks and other products, including through Fischer–Tropsch processes. Its portfolio includes fuel components, solvents, alcohols, surfactants, waxes, polymers and other specialty and performance chemicals used in industrial and consumer applications.

Sasol’s operations have historically been centered in South Africa, where the company operates major energy and chemicals facilities, with additional manufacturing, research and marketing activities in international markets.