BPCL vs IOC
Side-by-side comparison of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.. Descriptive only — not investment advice.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
Energy
Quality Score: 60/100
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Energy
Quality Score: 45/100
At a glance
| Metric | BPCL | IOC |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Score | 60/100 | 45/100 |
| P/E (trailing) | 5.3 | 5.6 |
| Forward P/E | 7.2 | 10.5 |
| ROE | — | — |
| Profit margin | +5.5% | +4.6% |
| Debt-to-equity | 56.39 | 72.63 |
| Dividend yield | +6.61% | +6.91% |
| 1Y price return | +3.6% | +7.1% |
| From 52w high | -22.7% | -22.5% |
| Analyst rating1 = Strong Buy, 5 = Strong Sell | 2.45 | 2.45 |
Highlighted value = better on the metric (lower for P/E, D/E, drawdown, analyst rating; higher elsewhere). Descriptive only.
Snapshots
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) is a state-owned oil marketing and refining company trading at ₹302.75, below both its 50-DMA (₹314.11) and 200-DMA (₹330.67). The trailing PE of 5.26 is the lowest among its NSE Energy peers, while a debt-to-equity of 56.39 reflects a heavily leveraged balance sheet typical of large PSU refiners with significant working-capital borrowings. Five-year earnings growth of 88.8% and a dividend yield of 6.61% stand alongside a profit margin of just 5.5%, illustrating the margin-thin nature of the fuel retail and refining business.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) trades at 144.69, a trailing PE of 5.58 on a profit margin of 4.64% and a dividend yield of 6.91%. The stock sits 4.3% below its 200-DMA and is down 22.46% from its 52-week high, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.63 on a rising debt trend. Forward PE of 10.47 implies the market prices in a significant earnings contraction from the current base.
Pros
- ✓Trailing PE of 5.26 is ranked 1st (lowest) among 6 Energy sector peers, which include COALINDIA (9.05), ONGC (9.24), GAIL (12.77), and RELIANCE (24.05).
- ✓Dividend yield of 6.61% offers a relatively high cash return in the context of a low-PE Energy sector stock.
- ✓Free cash flow was positive in 4 of the years tracked, indicating the business has periodically generated cash above its capital expenditure needs.
- ✓5-year earnings growth of 88.8% reflects significant profitability recovery over the measurement period, even if driven partly by cyclical fuel margin expansion.
- ✓Dividend yield of 6.91% is among the highest in the NSE Energy peer group at the current price level.
- ✓Trailing PE of 5.58 is the second-lowest among Energy sector peers with available data, below the sector median anchored by ONGC (9.24) and RELIANCE (24.05).
- ✓5-year revenue growth of 5.7% reflects steady top-line expansion for a state-owned oil marketing company operating in a regulated pricing environment.
- ✓Recent Libya discovery (IOCL and Oil India) represents a concrete upstream diversification step beyond the Middle East, as reported by Moneycontrol on April 28.
Cons
- ✗Debt-to-equity of 56.39 is exceptionally high for a non-financial company; this leverage amplifies vulnerability to crude price spikes, interest rate changes, and government-mandated under-recoveries.
- ✗Profit margin of 5.5% leaves little buffer against input cost increases — a feature of the refining and fuel-marketing model that is structurally prone to compression when crude oil prices rise sharply.
- ✗The stock has declined 20.84% over the past 3 months and sits 22.7% below its 52-week high, trading below both the 50-DMA and 200-DMA simultaneously.
- ✗Quality score of 53 out of 100 places BPCL near the middle of the peer group, behind COALINDIA (77) on this composite measure; ROE data is unavailable, limiting a full quality assessment.
- ✗Debt-to-equity of 72.63 is exceptionally elevated; the debt trend is rising, and FCF was positive in only 2 of the available years, indicating the balance sheet is under structural pressure.
- ✗Consistency score of 17/100 and ROE above 15% in only 2 of available years point to inconsistent capital efficiency despite the headline earnings growth figure.
- ✗Price is below both the 50-DMA (150.31) and 200-DMA (151.22), with a 22.46% drawdown from the 52-week high and a 15.2% decline over the past 3 months; nearest resistance at 148.34 sits above the current price.
- ✗News sentiment is net negative (4 negative vs 2 positive out of 8 articles), with recent stories citing windfall tax hikes and a sector-wide sell-off tied to West Asia geopolitical risk.
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