Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Sasol Ltd. $SSL

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired 110,410 Sasol shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.08 million. Several other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions, though institutions collectively own just 1.21% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but centers on a “Hold” consensus: one analyst rates Sasol Buy, five rate it Hold, and one rates it Sell. UBS upgraded the stock to Buy, while Investec initiated coverage with a Sell rating.
• Sasol shares opened at $13.29, near their 12-month high of $14.36, after reporting quarterly EPS of $0.56 on $4.61 billion in revenue. Analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $1.65.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 110,410 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Sasol by 123.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,381,209 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $13,563,000 after acquiring an additional 762,796 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sasol during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,231,000. 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 valued at $5,436,000 after purchasing an additional 285,807 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Sasol by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 166,465 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 48,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sasol in the 1st quarter valued at $11,284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sasol from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investec started coverage on shares of Sasol in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. They set a "sell" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Sasol in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Sasol from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised Sasol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Sasol Price Performance

NYSE:SSL opened at $13.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.74. Sasol Ltd. has a 12 month low of $5.24 and a 12 month high of $14.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Sasol (NYSE:SSL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Analysts expect that Sasol Ltd. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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