BP (BP) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate SHEL or BP?

Shell currently has a consensus target price of $77.73, suggesting a potential upside of 23.96%. BP has a consensus target price of $36.73, suggesting a potential upside of 36.27%. Given BP's higher possible upside, analysts clearly 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)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.07
BP	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the media refer more to SHEL or BP?

In the previous week, Shell had 20 more articles in the media than BP. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Shell and 23 mentions for BP. Shell's average media sentiment score of 0.59 beat BP's score of -0.05 indicating that Shell is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Shell	24 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
BP	6 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SHEL or BP?

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

Is SHEL or BP 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
Shell	5.57%	12.75%	6.01%
BP	0.20%	10.96%	3.24%

Do institutionals & insiders 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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation & 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	$284.31B	0.67	$16.09B	$5.02	12.49
BP	$189.19B	0.39	$381M	$0.08	336.88

Which has more risk and volatility, SHEL or BP?

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

Is SHEL or BP a better dividend stock?

Shell pays an annual dividend of $2.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. BP pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Shell pays out 57.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Summary

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