Buffett appears to be over National Oilwell Varco (NOV) . He sold off all of his shares of the Houston-based company in the second quarter of the year.
The stock has been weighing on Buffett's portfolio for a while, though he had also been reducing his stake in it for quite some time. National-Oilwell Varco, which designs, manufactures and sells equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling, has been hit hard by falling oil prices.
TheStreet Ratings team rates National Oilwell Varco as a hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings team has this to say about its recommendation:
"We rate National Oilwell Varco (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. We also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and poor profit margins."
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings team include:
Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $194.00 million or 77.72% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.
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 Energy Equipment & Services industry and the overall market, National Oilwell Varco's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.