Trexquant Investment LP Boosts Stake in Sasol Ltd. $SSL

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP significantly increased its stake in Sasol Ltd. by 368.2% during Q1, now owning 437,517 shares valued at approximately $1.85 million.
• Other investors, including Millennium Management and Two Sigma, also raised their holdings in Sasol drastically during the 4th quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Sasol has recently been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a more optimistic outlook on the stock.

Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of Sasol Ltd. (NYSE:SSL - Free Report) by 368.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 437,517 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after buying an additional 344,066 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.07% of Sasol worth $1,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Sasol by 24.9% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 17,229 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Sasol by 22.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,463 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 3,803 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in Sasol by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 40,690 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 4,108 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Sasol by 27.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,604 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 4,442 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Sasol by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,028 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.21% of the company's stock.

Sasol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SSL traded up $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $7.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,071,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,931. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.69. Sasol Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $2.78 and a fifty-two week high of $7.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sasol from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Sasol currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Sasol Company Profile

Sasol Limited operates as a chemical and energy company in South Africa and internationally. It offers alumina, such as battery materials, catalyst supports, abrasives and polishing, and polymer additives; cobalt fischer-tropsch catalysts; carbon-based and recarburiser products; graphite electrodes; and mono-ethylene glycol and chlor-alkali products, monomers, mining chemicals and reagents, blends and hydrocarbons, methanol products, polymers, phenolics, and fertilizers.