NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of oil company ConocoPhillips (COP) - Get Report were gaining 1.2% to $63.31 Wednesday as oil prices increased due to the weaker dollar.

WTI crude oil for May delivery was up 1.5% to $48.24 a barrel Wednesday afternoon, and Brent crude oil for May delivery was up 1.1% to $55.69 a barrel.

Oil prices were rising Wednesday due to the weaker U.S. dollar, according to Reuters. The dollar was down compared to the euro due to disappointing U.S. durable goods orders for February, according to the news service. Oil is priced against the dollar, which makes the commodity more attractive to investors using foreign currencies.

On Wednesday the U.S. Energy Information Administration said the U.S. crude inventories grew by 8.2 million barrels last week, above analysts' estimates for 5.1 million barrels. Oil prices briefly fell earlier in the day following the report.

TheStreet Ratings team rates CONOCOPHILLIPS as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed -- some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.43, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.03, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• 35.76% is the gross profit margin for CONOCOPHILLIPS which we consider to be strong. Regardless of COP's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of -0.34% trails the industry average.
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. In comparison to the other companies in the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market, CONOCOPHILLIPS's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.
• Net operating cash flow has decreased to $2,597.00 million or 33.59% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate to the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: COP Ratings Report