NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) - Get Report stock is moving lower by 2.35% to $25.72 in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, as the decline in the price of oil pushes parts of the energy sector into the red today.

Crude oil (WTI) is down by 2.17% to $43.69 per barrel and Brent crude is slipping by 2.34% to $54.60 per barrel this afternoon, according to the CNBC.com index.

Oil is retreating today on a stronger dollar, an increase in supply levels, and comments out of Kuwait regarding OPEC's production rate.

With the rise in the dollar, demand for commodities dominated by the currency weakens. The greenback is up 1.56% this afternoon, according to the Wall Street Journal dollar index.

Data from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. oil inventories grew more than expected last week by 9.6 million barrels to 458.5 million barrels.

Oil is also being pressured by comments from Kuwait Oil Minister Ali-Al-Omair who said OPEC still has no plans to put together a meeting in order to discuss ways to shore up oil prices and has no choice but to keep its current production rate in order to maintain market share, Bloomberg reports. 

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates MARATHON OIL CORP as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate MARATHON OIL CORP (MRO) 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 compelling growth in net income, reasonable valuation levels and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow."

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 Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income increased by 146.9% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $375.00 million to $926.00 million.
• The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.30, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. Although the company had a strong debt-to-equity ratio, its quick ratio of 0.94 is somewhat weak and could be cause for future problems.
• 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, MARATHON OIL CORP's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.
• The share price of MARATHON OIL CORP has not done very well: it is down 23.47% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. Looking ahead, we do not see anything in this company's numbers that would change the one-year trend. It was down over the last twelve months; and it could be down again in the next twelve. Naturally, a bull or bear market could sway the movement of this stock.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: MRO Ratings Report