BP (BP) Competitors

BP (NYSE:BP) and Shell (NYSE:SHEL) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer BP or SHEL?

In the previous week, BP had 2 more articles in the media than Shell. MarketBeat recorded 41 mentions for BP and 39 mentions for Shell. Shell's average media sentiment score of 0.57 beat BP's score of 0.09 indicating that Shell is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
BP	9 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Shell	15 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	18 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend BP or SHEL?

BP currently has a consensus target price of $36.73, suggesting a potential upside of 31.70%. Shell has a consensus target price of $77.73, suggesting a potential upside of 20.01%. Given BP's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe BP is more favorable than Shell.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BP	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Shell	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.07

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BP or SHEL?

BP received 886 more outperform votes than Shell when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.06% of users gave BP an outperform vote while only 66.03% of users gave Shell an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
BP	Outperform Votes 1199 67.06%	Underperform Votes 589 32.94%
Shell	Outperform Votes 313 66.03%	Underperform Votes 161 33.97%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, BP or SHEL?

Shell has higher revenue and earnings than BP. Shell is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BP	$189.19B	0.40	$381M	$0.08	348.56
Shell	$284.31B	0.69	$16.09B	$5.02	12.90

Is BP or SHEL a better dividend stock?

BP pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Shell pays an annual dividend of $2.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. BP pays out 2,375.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Shell pays out 57.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in BP or SHEL?

11.0% of BP shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.6% of Shell shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of BP shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Shell shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is BP or SHEL more profitable?

Shell has a net margin of 5.57% compared to BP's net margin of 0.20%. Shell's return on equity of 12.75% beat BP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BP	0.20%	10.96%	3.24%
Shell	5.57%	12.75%	6.01%

Which has more volatility & risk, BP or SHEL?

BP has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shell has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Shell beats BP on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.