NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of National Oilwell Varco (NOV) - Get Report are down 2.26% to $47.56 in afternoon trading today as oil prices decline.

West Texas Intermediate was lower by 1.75% to $43.11 at 2:40 p.m. in New York. Brent was down 0.96% to $53.42.

Oil prices are declining on the rising U.S. crude stocks, the rise in production in Libya, and the possible deal with oil producer Iran that could ease sanctions and boost its exports, according to Reuters.

"We expect WTI to remain under pressure as inventories swell further as the seasonal maintenance period begins. We expect this to remain the case in the short term," ANZ bank told Reuters.

National Oilwell Varco is a Houston-based provider of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling and production operations, oilfield services, and supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry.

The company conducts operations in over 1,235 locations across six continents through three segments: Rig Technology, Petroleum Services & Supplies, and Distribution & Transmission.

Separately, the average recommendation of 28 broker's estimates on the stock is a 2.7, with a 2 rating representing an "outperform" and a 3 rating a "hold," according to data compiled by Reuters. The mean target price is $57.14.

TheStreet Ratings team rates NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO INC (NOV) 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 revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and reasonable valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including weak operating cash flow, a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and poor profit margins."

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

• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 14.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 7.7%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• NOV's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.15 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.08, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO INC' earnings per share from the most recent quarter came in slightly below the year earlier quarter. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO INC increased its bottom line by earning $5.71 versus $5.09 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 34.3% in earnings ($3.75 versus $5.71).
• Looking at the price performance of NOV's shares over the past 12 months, there is not much good news to report: the stock is down 28.14%, and it has underformed the S&P 500 Index. In addition, the company's earnings per share are lower today than the year-earlier 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.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $736.00 million or 51.51% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: NOV Ratings Report