NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Nokia Corp. are higher by 4.08% to $8.05 in mid-morning trading on Friday, following a Bloomberg report suggesting the Finnish equipment maker is looking into the sale of its maps business HERE in order to improve its debt rating and boost growth at its wireless network unit. HERE is attracting interest from companies and private equity firms and bids for the business, which Nokia valued at $2.1 billion, are said to be coming soon, sources told Bloomberg, adding that the company may decide against a sale if it isn't offered a sufficient price. Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri is looking to lower the company's debt and improve its "junk" rating. HERE competes with Google and provides data to Amazon.com Inc. Microsoft Corp. , Yahoo! Inc. , and four out of five car navigation systems, Bloomberg noted. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates NOKIA CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate NOKIA CORP (NOK) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, 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 compelling growth in net income, good cash flow from operations, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity and impressive record of earnings per share growth. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Communications Equipment industry. The net income increased by 874.4% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$48.84 million to $378.24 million. Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 193.46% to $215.68 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, NOKIA CORP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -19.86%. Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, 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 NOK's debt-to-equity ratio is mixed in its results, the company's quick ratio of 1.55 is high and demonstrates strong liquidity. The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Communications Equipment industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, NOKIA CORP has outperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500. NOKIA CORP has improved earnings per share by 42.9% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. However, we anticipate underperformance relative to this pattern in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, NOKIA CORP increased its bottom line by earning $0.37 versus $0.06 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 6.8% in earnings ($0.35 versus $0.37). You can view the full analysis from the report here: NOK Ratings Report Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 25 Stocks for 2015
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