NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Staples Inc. (SPLS) are up by 2.69% to $16.69 at the start of trading on Monday morning, after analysts at UBS raised their rating on the office supply retailer to "buy" from "neutral."

The firm increased its rating on Staples as it believes its risk/reward, potential synergies, and earnings growth from the Office Depot (ODP) - Get Report acquisition will be favorable. UBS also feels Staples will "more likely than not" be able to close the acquisition, CNBC.com reports.

In February, Staples and Office Depot announced a $6.3 billion deal to combine in an effort to compete against big box stores and online marketplaces.

The two had previously agreed to merge in a 1996 deal but that agreement was stopped by a government lawsuit arguing that the transaction would have resulted in an increase in price for office supplies in a number of U.S. cities, Reuters reported, adding that this time around antitrust experts believe that the Federal Trade Commission will approve the deal.

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

"We rate STAPLES INC (SPLS) 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 and solid stock price performance. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow."

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

• SPLS's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.21 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Although the company had a strong debt-to-equity ratio, its quick ratio of 0.78 is somewhat weak and could be cause for future problems.
• SPLS, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 13.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 3.7%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• Compared to its closing price of one year ago, SPLS's share price has jumped by 40.78%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Looking ahead, however, we cannot assume that the stock's past performance is going to drive future results. Quite to the contrary, its sharp appreciation over the last year is one of the factors that should prompt investors to seek better opportunities elsewhere.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Specialty Retail industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 222.6% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $212.38 million to -$260.35 million.
• Current return on equity is lower than its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of weakness within the company. Compared to other companies in the Specialty Retail industry and the overall market, STAPLES INC's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: SPLS Ratings Report