BP (BP – Get Report) shares are down 2.13% to $40.47 in afternoon trading on Monday after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from oil giant concerning fines that the company will be liable for in the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The Supreme Court will instead allow a lower court’s ruling that BP could not avoid federal fines for the spill by saying that another company’s failed equipment was responsible for the oil spill.

BP had argued, according to the Associated Press, that since the oil leak originated from an underwater pipe manufactured by another company that was damaged when the burning oil rig sank that the company was not liable for the oil spill.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates BP PLC as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

“We rate BP PLC (BP) a BUY. This is driven by a few notable strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. Among the primary strengths of the company is its solid financial position based on a variety of debt and liquidity measures that we have evaluated. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.”

Source: The Street