NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Laredo Petroleum (LPI) - Get Reportare lower by 0.45% to $11.02 Friday afternoon, as crude prices continue to fall in today's trading session following a warning by the International Energy Agency that the global oil glut is building.

In its monthly report, the IEA predicts that the U.S. could soon run out of empty tanks to store crude oil, which would put additional downward pressure on prices, Reuters reports.

Brent crude for April delivery was trading lower by 4.26% to $54.65 a barrel as of 3:36 p.m. ET today, while WTI crude for April delivery is also down 4.06% to $45.14 a barrel.

In addition, the speed of rig reduction in U.S. oilfields slowed in the last week, according to data from Baker Hughes (BHI) .

The number of rigs exploring for oil fell by 56, lower compared to the 64-rig decline a week earlier. 

Tulsa, OK-based Laredo Petroleum operates as an independent energy company focused on the exploration, development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties primarily in the Permian region of the U.S.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates LAREDO PETROLEUM INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate LAREDO PETROLEUM INC (LPI) 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 robust revenue growth, compelling growth in net income and reasonable valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself."

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

• LPI's very impressive revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 19.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues leaped by 54.7%. 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 significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income increased by 195.0% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $68.24 million to $201.28 million.
• 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 Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, LAREDO PETROLEUM INC has underperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has exceeded that of the S&P 500.
• LPI'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 55.41%, 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. Turning toward the future, the fact that the stock has come down in price over the past year should not necessarily be interpreted as a negative; it could be one of the factors that may help make the stock attractive down the road. Right now, however, we believe that it is too soon to buy.
• The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. Along with this, the company manages to maintain a quick ratio of 0.37, which clearly demonstrates the inability to cover short-term cash needs.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: LPI Ratings Report