Podcast: The Most Undervalued Solar Stocks. And More…

Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By!

The Most Undervalued Solar Stocks. And More… includes the following articles: “10 Most Undervalued Solar Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds,” by Fahad Saleem; “Bloom Energy and Enviva are the Alternative Energy Stocks to Buy According to Pavel Molchanov, Managing Director, Renewable Energy and Clean Technology for Raymond James.” And six additional articles too!

Transcript & Links, Episode 99, February 10, 2023

Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast 99 published on February 10, 2023, titled “The Most Undervalued Solar Stocks. And More…” — and presented by Investing for the Soul. Investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing mentoring, news, commentary, information, and resources.

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.

Now if any terms are unfamiliar to you, simply Google them.

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 so that I can get as many companies covered as possible in the time allowed. Please go to this podcast's webpage for links to the actual articles for more company and stock information. Also, several companies are covered more than once and there are also 6 article links below that time didn’t allow me to review here.

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The Most Undervalued Solar Stocks. And More…

Now I’m going to start with a favorite sector of this audience with this title 10 Most Undervalued Solar Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. It’s by Fahad Saleem and was found on yahoo.com. Here are some quotes from Mr. Saleem.

“For this article we scanned the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF holdings and listed the top solar stocks owned by the ETF. We then narrowed down to the stocks that have attractive PE ratios when compared to the green and renewable industry average PE of 83, which was calculated by NYU Stern. After applying these checks, we got a long list of solar stocks. We then picked 10 stocks from this list which had the most number of hedge fund shareholders. For that metric we used Insider Monkey’s database of 920 hedge fund holdings. (So, starting with)…

10. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 15

JinkoSolar has a forward PE ratio of 8.83 as of January 27, according to Yahoo Finance… This Chinese solar stock rallied earlier in January after Roth Capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral… (and) also increased its price target on the stock to $70 from $50. Roth Capital cited the improving US policy situation and the potential for margin expansion on poly price declines for the upgrade.

9. Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR)

Hedge Fund Holders: 16

With a PE ratio of under 20, Avangrid is one of the most undervalued solar stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In October, Avangrid's stock price target was raised by investment firm Mizuho analyst Paul Fremont to $41 from $39. The analyst kept a Neutral rating on the shares.

8. NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Hedge Fund Holders: 21

With an attractive PE ratio of 12.97 and long-term growth catalysts, NextEra Energy Partners is one of the most undervalued solar stocks to buy according to hedge funds…

Recently, NextEra Energy Partners stock price target was increased by investment firm Oppenheimer’s analyst Colin Rusch… to $94 from $88 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares.

7. Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ)

Hedge Fund Holders: 22

… shot up significantly when compared to the previous quarter when just 13 funds had stakes in Canadian Solar…With a PE ratio under 15 and a strong hedge fund sentiment, Canadian Solar is one of the best undervalued solar stocks to buy now according to hedge funds…

Canadian Solar makes solar panels, modules, and solar power systems for residential, commercial, and utility-scale power generation. Canadian Solar is growing rapidly and has diversified its operations to offset uncertainty. One of the biggest advantages Canadian Solar has over its peers is the company’s presence in the entire value chain of the solar industry.

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

Hedge Fund Holders: 25

With a PE ratio of just 6.6 as of market close of January 27, Clearway Energy is one of the most undervalued solar stocks to buy according to hedge funds… Clearway Energy has a dividend yield of over 4% (and) is targeting annual dividend growth in the range of about 5% to 8% through 2026.

Clearway Energy's balance sheet is also strong.

5. SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR)

Hedge Fund Holders: 26

With a PE ratio of 53 (compared to industry PE of 83), SunPower Corporation is one of the most undervalued solar stocks to buy according to hedge funds. SunPower Corporation has lost about 16% in value over the past six months. In November, SunPower Corporation shares gained after investment firm Credit Suisse upgraded SunPower Corporation to Neutral from Underperform. The ratings upgrade came after SunPower Corporation posted strong Q3 results that beat estimates.

4. NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG)

Hedge Fund Holders: 27

NRG Energy has a PE ratio of 4.28 as of January 27 market close… It has a dividend yield of over 4%...

3. Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Hedge Fund Holders: 27

… up from 21 hedge funds that reported having stakes… at the end of the previous quarter…

Consolidated Edison is also one of the best and most reliable dividend stocks… (it) has upped its dividends for over four decades in a row… (and) has a dividend yield of over 3%.

In November… (its) shares were upgraded by… Bank of America to Neutral from Underperform (who) increased its price target for Consolidated Edison to $95 from $78.

2. Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ:RUN)

Hedge Fund Holders: 47

… compared to 36 funds in the previous quarter. While Sunrun has a relatively high PE ratio, it makes it to our list because it has lost 22% over the past six months and analysts are hopeful… (its) shares… could perform well in the future amid long-term growth catalysts. Sunrun… is also popular among hedge funds…

Sunrun says it has about 18% market share in the US solar market, while it enjoys a whopping 66% market share in solar subscriptions.

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

Hedge Fund Holders: 59

Enphase Energy… has lost about 26% over the past six months and the shares seem to have long-term growth catalysts, according to several analysts. Hedge funds also piling into this solar stock… According to Yahoo Finance, Enphase Energy stock has a forward PE ratio of 43, compared to renewable industry’s PE ratio of 83.

In October, Enphase Energy shares rallied after the company posted strong Q3 results and gave bullish guidance. Enphase Energy said it plans to open 4-6 manufacturing lines in the US because of the Inflation Reduction Act.” End quotes.

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Analyst's Top Alternative Energy Stocks

Continuing with the alternative energy theme is this article titled Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) and Enviva (NYSE:EVA) are the Alternative Energy Stocks to Buy According to Pavel Molchanov, Managing Director, Renewable Energy and Clean Technology for Raymond James (NYSE:RJF). Found on twst.com. Here are some quotes from the article.

“This Raymond James analyst has been recognized in the StarMine Top Analyst survey, the Forbes Blue Chip Analyst survey, and the Wall Street Journal Best on the Street survey…

Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE).

Mr. Molchanov says, ‘Another company which will have good opportunities in Europe is Bloom Energy.

Currently, Bloom is the largest provider of stationary fuel cells in the world. A fuel cell is a mini power plant. They are used at data centers, hospitals, and office buildings to provide an extremely reliable supply of electricity…

Fuel cells are a solution to improving the reliability and the resilience of electricity supply for mission-critical businesses such as data centers. In addition to that, Bloom is starting to produce a second product called an electrolyzer, which is essentially a fuel cell in reverse.

A fuel cell takes natural gas to generate electricity, whereas an electrolyzer takes electricity, passes it through water, and produces hydrogen. So it’s a way of making hydrogen without a fossil fuel… This is the definition of green hydrogen… Green hydrogen is defined as electrolysis of water using renewable power…’

Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG)

… and Bloom Energy are both companies that originally were focused on fuel cells and are now diversifying into electrolyzers… The technology platform is somewhat different, though.

More importantly, Plug Power is getting into the business of producing hydrogen as a commodity — in other words, selling hydrogen fuel to end users, whereas Bloom Energy is 100% an equipment vendor.

Supply chain complications have presented themselves for both of these companies…

For both Plug and Bloom Energy, the opportunity in Europe with record high natural gas prices arises from the fact that electrolysis enables production of hydrogen without using natural gas…

In the U.S… the Inflation Reduction Act created a first-of-its-kind subsidy for low-carbon hydrogen production that will benefit these companies and others…

Recession doesn’t really matter for these companies… The demand for these products is ultimately tied to the cost of fossil fuels. When fossil fuels are expensive, that inherently bolsters demand for substitutes.

As natural gas in Europe has tripled as a result of the war, that means for the first time ever, green hydrogen is actually cheaper than making hydrogen from natural gas, just like wood pellets are cheaper than burning coal.’

Enviva (NYSE:EVA)

Enviva is the world’s largest provider of utility-grade wood pellets. One of the things we’ve seen in Europe, because Russia has basically cut off natural gas supply, is some utilities are needing to burn more coal. This is not only a big problem environmentally, but it’s also quite expensive…

Wood pellets of the kind that Enviva makes are substitutes for coal. They are renewable because they’re made from wood, and they are also cleaner burning, without the various toxins that coal contains.

Because coal is so expensive, wood pellets for the first time ever are actually cheaper than coal…

Enviva is a U.S. company and… produces the wood pellets along the eastern seaboard, where there has always been a lot of forestry.

But they are all shipped abroad: 80% to Europe, 20% to Japan…’” End quotes.

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Now some Other Honorable Mentions – no particular order

1. Title: Why AbbVie is a Top Socially Responsible Dividend Stock. It’s by BNK Invest and found on Nasdaq.com. However, note this article titled How a Drug Company Made $114 Billion by Gaming the U.S. Patent System on nytimes.com.

2. Title: 3 Energy Mutual Funds for Fantastic Returns on news.yahoo.com. Only one is an alternative energy company. By Zacks Equity Research.

3. Title: 7 of the Most Highly Rated ESG Companies to Invest in Now. It’s by InvestorPlace and found on investorobserver.com

4. Title: 3 Solar-Energy Stocks Setting Up In Bullish Bases on nasdaq.com. By Kate Stalter on Marketbeat.

5. Title: 4 Nanocap ESG Stocks For 2023. By RazorPitch NanoCap ESG and found on yahoo.com.

Article From Outside the US

1. UK. Title: Top 8 ethical pension funds for 2023 on good-with-money.com. By Lori Campbell.

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Ending Comment

Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “The Most Undervalued Solar Stocks. And More…”

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Talk to you next February 24th.

Bye for now.

© 2023 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul