Sasol (NYSE:SSL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $6.41, but opened at $6.73. Sasol shares last traded at $6.8550, with a volume of 426,267 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SSL shares. Zacks Research downgraded Sasol from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sasol from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Sasol from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Sasol in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sasol currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Sasol Stock Up 7.4%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $6.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sasol

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Sasol during the second quarter worth approximately $833,000. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Sasol by 157.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 246,324 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 150,491 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Sasol by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 890,502 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 180,827 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Sasol in the second quarter worth $339,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sasol by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 767,312 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,392,000 after buying an additional 81,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.21% of the company’s stock.

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.