BP (BP) Competitors

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

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of SHEL or BP?

28.6% of Shell shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.0% of BP shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Shell shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of BP shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend SHEL or BP?

Shell presently has a consensus target price of $78.54, suggesting a potential upside of 8.60%. BP has a consensus target price of $35.17, suggesting a potential upside of 7.71%. Given Shell's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Shell is more favorable than BP.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shell	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
BP	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Is SHEL or BP more profitable?

Shell has a net margin of 4.75% compared to BP's net margin of -0.62%. Shell's return on equity of 11.71% beat BP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shell	4.75%	11.71%	5.51%
BP	-0.62%	9.51%	2.74%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, SHEL or BP?

Shell has higher revenue and earnings than BP. BP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Shell, 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
Shell	$289.03B	0.74	$16.09B	$4.34	16.66
BP	$194.63B	0.45	$381M	-$0.46	-70.98

Is SHEL or BP a better dividend stock?

Shell pays an annual dividend of $2.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. BP pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Shell pays out 65.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BP pays out -413.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. BP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor SHEL or BP?

In the previous week, Shell had 13 more articles in the media than BP. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Shell and 18 mentions for BP. Shell's average media sentiment score of 0.23 beat BP's score of 0.03 indicating that Shell is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Shell	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
BP	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more volatility & risk, SHEL or BP?

Shell has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BP has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Shell beats BP on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.