NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of WPX Energy were gaining 2.4% to $11.20 Wednesday as oil prices increased ahead of Friday's U.S. jobs report. WTI crude oil for May delivery was up 4.3% to $49.66 a barrel Wednesday afternoon, and Brent crude oil for May delivery was up 2.9% to $56.72 a barrel. Oil prices were rising Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Agency announced that U.S. crude oil production decreased last week for the first time since January, according to the Wall Street Journal. The EIA said that U.S. crude oil output fell by 36,000 barrels to 9.4 million barrels the week ended March 27. While domestic output decreased, the EIA announced that U.S. crude inventories grew to a record 471.4 million barrels during the week that ended March 27. U.S. crude inventories have increased for 12 straight weeks. TheStreet Ratings team rates WPX ENERGY INC as a Sell with a ratings score of D+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate WPX ENERGY INC (WPX) a SELL. This is driven by some concerns, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. Among the areas we feel are negative, one of the most important has been a generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: WPX's stock share price has done very poorly compared to where it was a year ago: Despite any rallies, the net result is that it is down by 37.43%, which is also worse that the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Investors have so far failed to pay much attention to the earnings improvements the company has managed to achieve over the last quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now. 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 Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market, WPX ENERGY INC's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. WPX ENERGY INC reported significant earnings per share improvement 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, WPX ENERGY INC turned its bottom line around by earning $0.62 versus -$5.43 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 201.6% in earnings (-$0.63 versus $0.62). The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.53, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. Even though the company has a strong debt-to-equity ratio, the quick ratio of 0.44 is very weak and demonstrates a lack of ability to pay short-term obligations. The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income increased by 122.5% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$973.00 million to $219.00 million. You can view the full analysis from the report here: WPX Ratings Report Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 25 Stocks for 2015
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