NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Halliburton Co. are up by 1.78% to $42.29 at the start of trading on Friday morning, after Bloomberg cited inside sources saying that the oil services company and Baker Hughes are planning to sell as much as $10 billion in assets next month in order for the two companies to complete their merger. In an effort to win approval for their $34.6 billion merger from the Justice Department the companies are looking to remove at least four clusters of overlapping business lines, including Halliburton's drill bits and directional drilling operations and Baker Hughes' cementing division, sources told Bloomberg. Halliburton has previously stated that it will sell businesses that generate as much as $7.5 billion in revenue in order to obtain regulatory approval. In a filing from earlier in the week Baker Hughes said it caught the attention of a "global conglomerate" late in 2014 for assets it may wind up selling in order to combine with Halliburton, Bloomberg added. On March 27 both companies will hold special meetings giving shareholders the opportunity to vote on the deal. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates HALLIBURTON CO as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate HALLIBURTON CO (HAL) a BUY. This is driven by a few notable strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, increase in net income, attractive valuation levels, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: HAL's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 14.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 14.8%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share. The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and greatly outperformed compared to the Energy Equipment & Services industry average. The net income increased by 13.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $793.00 million to $901.00 million. Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further. Despite the fact that HAL's debt-to-equity ratio is mixed in its results, the company's quick ratio of 1.68 is high and demonstrates strong liquidity. Current return on equity exceeded its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of strength within the company. Compared to other companies in the Energy Equipment & Services industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, HALLIBURTON CO has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has exceeded that of the S&P 500. You can view the full analysis from the report here: HAL Ratings Report Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 25 Stocks for 2015
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