Podcast: The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains

Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By!

The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains. Includes 2023 ranking of best ESG companies and best solar and renewable stocks.

Transcript & Links, Episode 117, November 3, 2023

Hello, Ron Robins here. So, welcome to this podcast episode 117 titled “The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains.” It’s presented by Investing for the Soul. Investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing mentoring, news, commentary, information, and resources. And look at my newly revised website at investingforthesoul.com! Tell me what you think.

Now, remember that you can find a full transcript, and links to content – including stock symbols and bonus material – on this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts.

Also, a reminder. I do not evaluate any of the stocks or funds mentioned in these podcasts, nor do I receive any compensation from anyone covered in these podcasts. Furthermore, I will reveal to you any personal investments I have in the investments mentioned herein.

Additionally, quotes about individual companies are brief. Please go to this podcast's webpage for links to the actual articles for more company and stock information. Also, some companies might be covered more than once and there are also 3 article links below that time didn’t allow me to review them here.

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1) The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains

I’m beginning with this article titled 13 Best ESG Stocks To Buy Now by Syed Ijaz seen on finance.yahoo.com. Here’s some of what Mr. Ijaz has to say.

“We selected 40 companies from the Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) and iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF (ESGD). We then picked the largest companies in terms of capitalization and then ranked them based on Insider Monkey’s database of 910 hedge funds tracked at the end of Q2 this year…

13. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 106

In 2022, JPMorgan Chase financed and facilitated about $197 billion in climate, community development and sustainable development projects and initiatives.

12. Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Hedge Fund Holders: 109

The company has developed and implemented ESG initiatives over the years… The company thoroughly focuses on its diversity, equity and inclusion activities.

11. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Hedge Fund Holders: 111

UnitedHealth Group is a part of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the US Health Sector and expects to reach operational net-zero target by 2035.

10. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Hedge Fund Holders: 114

In terms of ESG, the firm plans to halve its emissions by 2030.

9. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hedge Fund Holders: 122

In its fiscal 2023 ESG report, the California-based company said that it maintained net zero residual emissions and provided more than $82 million as grants and donations to partners and communities globally.

8. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hedge Fund Holders: 135

By 2030, the technology giant expects to manufacture all products carbon neutral.

7. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Hedge Fund Holders: 139

It intends to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 and support its suppliers' decarbonizing strategies.

6. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Hedge Fund Holders: 152

Alphabet has planned to commit to net-zero emissions throughout all of its operations and value chain by 2030.

5. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Hedge Fund Holders: 171

Starting in 2020, Visa achieved carbon neutrality throughout its operations and transitioned to 100% renewable electricity.

4. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Hedge Fund Holders: 175

NVIDIA has set a target to achieve and maintain 100% renewable electricity across its operations and data centers by fiscal 2025.

3. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hedge Fund Holders: 225

In its 2023 sustainability report, Meta’s Vice President of Data Center Strategy Rachel Peterson said that the firm is moving towards the goals of net zero emissions throughout the value chain and becoming water positive across its operations, anticipating to attain both of these benchmarks in 2030.

2. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Hedge Fund Holders: 278

The company intends to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 and empower its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.

1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hedge Fund Holders: 300

By 2030, Satya Nadella-led Microsoft Corporation expects to be carbon negative and by 2050, it intends to eliminate its emissions.”

End quotes.

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2) The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains

Next, we have this great ESG ranking. The article is titled IBD's 100 Best ESG Companies For 2023. It’s by Adam Shell on investors.com. This is some of what Mr. Shell has to say.

“Topping the list this year is Microsoft (MSFT). Applied Materials (AMAT) took second place. In third place is Woodward (WWD).

Best ESG Companies Methodology

To build the 2023 100 Best ESG Companies list, we started with each company's ESG sustainability score created by Dow Jones Newswires, an IBD affiliate. These scores capture a broad spectrum of information on the ESG profile of more than 6,000 global companies.

On Aug. 24, IBD asked Dow Jones for an ESG-scored list of all the U.S.-traded companies it tracks, a total of 2,067. We then cut the list to 1,559 companies on Aug. 25 by removing nonpublic companies and companies with stock prices below $10 a share. We also removed any companies that lacked sufficient data to create an IBD Composite Rating.

We further qualified the list by removing those companies that did not meet or beat the S&P 500 in the past five years. [From which] We selected the 100 with the highest IBD Composite Rating — all with scores of 81 or better.” End quotes.

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3) The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains

Now we have another similarly titled to the first article above. This article is titled 13 Best Solar Energy Stocks To Invest In Heading Into 2024. It’s by Ramish Cheema and found at finance.yahoo.com. Here are some of the points Mr. Cheema made.

“To compile our list of the best solar energy stocks to invest in, we used the top 20 stock picks of the Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE:TAN) that are traded on American stock exchanges and ranked them by the number of hedge funds that had bought the shares as of June 2023 using data from Insider Monkey's database of 910 hedge funds.

13. SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 17

SunPower is an American solar company that sells household solar power devices in the U.S. and in Canada.

12. Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (NASDAQ:AY)

Hedge Fund Investors: 18

Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure is a global British energy company with a renewable energy division.

11. Altus Power, Inc. (NYSE:AMPS)

Hedge Fund Investors: 19

Altus Power is a small utility company that operates solar power generation systems used by both private and industrial users.

10. Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA)

Hedge Fund Investors: 19

Sunnova Energy International is an American company with more than a thousand megawatts of solar power generation capacity in its portfolio.

9. Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MAXN)

Hedge Fund Investors: 20

Maxeon Solar Technologies is a Singaporean pure play solar power hardware firm that makes and sells solar panels.

8. Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)

Hedge Fund Investors: 22

Daqo New Energy is a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer that provides products to solar panel manufacturers.

7. Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHLS)

Hedge Fund Investors: 24

Shoals Technologies is a solar hardware company that sells products used to charge batteries and monitor solar power generation systems.

6. Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN)

Hedge Fund Investors: 24

Sunrun. is a solar power hardware firm that sells solar panels and energy storage systems.

5. Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN)

Hedge Fund Investors: 29

The firm generates thousands of megawatts of electricity through renewable power plants which include solar facilities

4. Array Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRY)

Hedge Fund Investors: 32

Array Technologies sells hardware products that enable solar panels to track the Sun’s movements.

3. SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEDG)

Hedge Fund Investors: 43

SolarEdge Technologies is a backend solar power firm that sells inverters and other associated products.

2. Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH)

Hedge Fund Investors: 50

Enphase Energy is one of the largest solar companies in the U.S. It provides micro inverters, batteries, and other solar power products.

1. First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Hedge Fund Investors: 51

First Solar sells solar panels to industrial and other large scale users.” End quotes.

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4) The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains

Continuing on the energy theme is this next article titled 3 Alternative Energy Stocks to Buy Amid Rising Wind Turbine Cost. It’s by Aparajita Dutta and on Nasdaq.com. Here’s some of what Ms. Dutta has to say about her picks.

“1. Constellation Energy Corporation (CEG)

Based in Baltimore, MD, the company is the nation's largest producer of carbon-free energy and provides sustainable solutions to homes, businesses and public-sector customers… It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

2. Crescent Energy Company (CRGY)

Based in Fort Worth, TX, the company is an independent oil and natural gas company that acquires, explores, develops, exploits and produces crude oil and natural gas properties… It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

3. Enlight Renewable Energy (ENLT)

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, the company provides a renewable energy platform that develops, finances, constructs, owns and operates utility-sale renewable energy projects… It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.”

End quotes.

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5) The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains

Yes, yet another listing of 13 stocks. This one is titled 13 Best Alternative Energy Stocks To Buy Now. It’s by Faiq Zafar and found on finance.yahoo.com. Her’s part of what Mr. Zafar Has to say.

“To compile our list of the 13 best alternative energy stocks to buy now, we first made a list of the 30 largest alternative energy companies in the world in terms of their market capitalization… The stocks have been ranked based on the number of hedge funds which hold stakes in them.

13. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 13

As of 2022, Brookfield Renewable Partners owns more than 200 hydroelectric plants, 150 wind farms, more than 600 solar facilities, and four storage facilities across the world.

12. Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 19

Sunnova Energy International is an American solar energy company which was founded in 2012.

11. Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 20

Plug Power is an American company which focuses on the production of hydrogen fuel cell systems which are geared to replace conventional batteries in electrical equipment and vehicles.

10. Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 22

Daqo New Energy is a Chinese alternative energy company which focuses on the manufacture of monocrystalline silicon and polysilicon, which is an essential in the production of solar photovoltaic cells.

9. Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 24

Sunrun is an American company which manufactures photovoltaic systems and battery energy storage products, specifically for residential consumers.

8. Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 29

Algonquin Power and Utilities is a Canadian clean energy and regulated utility conglomerate with multiple assets across the North American continent.

7. SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SEDG)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 43

SolarEdge Technologies is an Israeli company… the company was one of the first clean energy companies in the world to successfully commercialize power optimizers, small devices placed behind each solar panel to allow for module-level MPPT and panel-level monitoring.

6. Constellation Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CEG)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 46

Constellation Energy. is an American energy company which focuses on the production of electric power, natural gas, and energy management services.

5. Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 50

Enphase Energy is an American energy technology company which produces and manufactures solar micro-inverters, battery energy storage, and EV charging stations.

4. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 51

First Solar is an American energy company which focuses on the manufacture of solar panels, and provides utility-scale PV power plants.

3. NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 59

NextEra Energy is an American energy company. It is the largest electric utilities holding company in the world by overall market capitalization. As of 2022, more than 60% of NextEra’s generating capacity was from clean energy sources.

2. General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 71

GE is an American multinational conglomerate which is spread across multiple divisions.

1. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Hedge Fund Holdings: 79

Tesla is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company which manufactures electric vehicles, stationary battery storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels, and other related products.” End quotes.

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Other Honorable Mentions – not in any order.

1) Title: White House Investment Bodes Well for This Clean Energy ETF on etftrends.com. By Ben Hernandez.

2) Title: Union Pacific a Top Socially Responsible Dividend Stock With 2.5% Yield (UNP) seen on nasdaq.com. By BNK Invest.

3) Title: Top 10: Renewable Energy Companies in the USA on Energy Magazine energydigital.com. By Charlie King.

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Ending Comment

Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast titled: “The Best ESG Stocks for Potential Gains.”

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Bye for now.

© 2023 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul