BP (BP) Competitors

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

Is SHEL or BP more profitable?

Shell has a net margin of 5.17% compared to BP's net margin of 1.36%. Shell's return on equity of 14.54% beat BP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shell	5.17%	14.54%	6.86%
BP	1.36%	12.91%	3.91%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SHEL or BP?

BP received 895 more outperform votes than Shell when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.42% of users gave BP an outperform vote while only 65.30% of users gave Shell an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Shell	Outperform Votes 303 65.30%	Underperform Votes 161 34.70%
BP	Outperform Votes 1198 67.42%	Underperform Votes 579 32.58%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SHEL or BP?

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

Is SHEL or BP a better dividend stock?

Shell pays an annual dividend of $2.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. BP pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Shell pays out 56.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BP pays out 200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Which has more volatility & risk, SHEL or BP?

Shell has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BP has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor SHEL or BP?

In the previous week, Shell had 21 more articles in the media than BP. MarketBeat recorded 52 mentions for Shell and 31 mentions for BP. Shell's average media sentiment score of 0.34 beat BP's score of 0.15 indicating that Shell is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Shell	20 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
BP	7 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend SHEL or BP?

Shell currently has a consensus price target of $79.69, indicating a potential upside of 20.72%. BP has a consensus price target of $39.89, indicating a potential upside of 28.05%. Given BP's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BP is more favorable than Shell.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shell	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.17
BP	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, SHEL or BP?

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
Shell	$296.76B	0.68	$19.36B	$4.86	13.58
BP	$195.57B	0.43	$15.24B	$0.95	32.79

Summary

Shell beats BP on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.