Reviewing Esken (OTC:ESKNF) & Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

Esken (OTC:ESKNF) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Esken and Albemarle, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esken	0	0	0	0	N/A
Albemarle	1	15	7	0	2.26

Albemarle has a consensus price target of $117.30, indicating a potential upside of 25.44%. Given Albemarle’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Albemarle is more favorable than Esken.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Esken and Albemarle”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esken	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Albemarle	$7.46 billion	1.47	$1.57 billion	$2.75	34.00

Albemarle has higher revenue and earnings than Esken.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Albemarle shares are held by company 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.

Profitability

This table compares Esken and Albemarle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esken	N/A	N/A	N/A
Albemarle	-6.72%	6.38%	3.31%

Summary

Albemarle beats Esken on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Esken

Esken Limited operates in the aviation and renewables businesses in the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Aviation, Renewables, Investments, and Non-Strategic Infrastructure segments. The Aviation segment engages in the operation of commercial airports and the provision of ground handling services. The Renewables segment is involved in the supply of sustainable biomass for the generation of renewable energy. The Investments segment engages in the logistics services investing, and baggage handling businesses. The Non-Strategic Infrastructure segment is involved in the management, development, and realization of a portfolio of property assets, including Carlisle Lake District Airport. The company was formerly known as Stobart Group Limited and changed its name to Esken Limited in February 2021. Esken Limited was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services. The Specialties segment provides bromine-based specialty chemicals, including elemental bromine, alkyl and inorganic bromides, brominated powdered activated carbon, and other bromine fine chemicals; lithium specialties, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride; develops and manufactures cesium products for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries; and zirconium, barium, and titanium products for pyrotechnical applications that include airbag initiators. The Ketjen segment offers clean fuels technologies (CFT), which is composed of hydroprocessing catalysts (HPC) together with isomerization and akylation catalysts; fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts and additives; and performance catalyst solutions (PCS), which is composed of organometallics and curatives. The company serves the energy storage, petroleum refining, consumer electronics, construction, automotive, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and crop protection markets. Albemarle Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.