Shell vs BP, side by side
For income-minded UK investors these two need no introduction - both have paid dividends for generations and both still make most of their money finding, pumping and trading oil and gas. Shell is the larger, with a huge natural-gas and trading arm; BP is smaller and has swung its strategy more sharply between fossil fuels and renewables over recent years.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on growth and value, and weakest on quality.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on growth and momentum, and weakest on quality.
The numbers, side by side
| Measure |  Shell |  BP |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £33.84 | £5.53 |
| Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'. | £187.23B | £85.37B |
| P/E: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth. | 10.0 | 36.8 |
| Div yield: Dividend yield: the yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn just from dividends. | 3.5% | 4.6% |
| Revenue growth | 44.7% | 11.6% |
| 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. | +25% | +39% |
More measures
| Forward P/E: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth. | 9.8 | 10.9 |
|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 8.8% | 1.7% |
| ROE | 14.3% | 5.8% |
| Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. | -0.23 | -0.23 |
The bolder figure is simply the larger of the two - higher is not automatically good (a higher P/E means more expectation in the price; a higher beta means bigger swings).
How they differ
Shell is roughly 2.2x the size of BP by market value. On our factor screen Shell currently screens higher on income and quality. BP trades on the higher P/E (36.8 vs 10.0), so more expectation is already built into its price; and BP currently yields more (4.6% vs 3.5%). Over the past year the share prices moved +25% (Shell) vs +39% (BP).
Descriptive only - how the two compare on today's data, never a verdict on either.
Shell, in one line
Shell is a global energy giant that finds, extracts, and sells oil, gas, and increasingly, renewable energy solutions to power homes and businesses worldwide.
Read the full Shell explainer →BP, in one line
BP is a global energy giant that extracts oil and gas while shifting its focus toward renewable energy and electric vehicle charging.
Read the full BP explainer →What to weigh
If dividend income matters to you, the yields differ (3.5% Shell vs 4.6% BP). These are facts to understand, not a verdict - read each full explainer before deciding anything.
Common questions
Are these dividend payments safe?
They depend on energy prices and company decisions - both firms cut their payouts in living memory (BP after the 2010 spill, Shell in 2020). A high yield here is a cyclical-industry yield, not a savings-account rate.
What is the energy-transition risk?
Long term, demand for oil may decline. How fast is fiercely debated - and each company's answer (how much to invest in renewables versus returning cash to shareholders) keeps shifting, which is itself a risk to understand.