Podcast: The Winning ESG Companies

Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By!

The Winning ESG Companies articles include: “11 Best ESG Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Al Gore”; “Top 12 ESG Companies in 2022”; “IBD’s 100 Best ESG Companies For 2022”; “Investing in green energy here are the top 5 stock picks”; “Capital Keeps Flowing Into Green Bonds Despite Inflation Challenges”; and much more this episode…

Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast episode 93 published on November 4, 2022, titled “The Winning ESG Companies” — 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 where you’ll find much more great company information.

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1) The Winning ESG Companies

Now the content of this first article will likely interest most of you. It’s titled 11 Best ESG Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Al Gore and found on yahoo.com. It’s by Vardah Gill. Al Gore is a former U.S. Vice President, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and well-known for his environmental advocacy and investment management skills. He co-founded Generation Investment Management.

Here’s some of what Mr. Gill has to say. Incidentally, quoted dividend yields are as of October 28.

“For this list, we selected stocks from Generation Investment Management's 13 F portfolio as of Q2 2022… Moreover, these companies pay dividends to shareholders. The stocks are ranked according to their stake values in the hedge fund's portfolio.

11. Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Generation Investment Management's (G-I-M’s) Stake Value: $76,630,000

Microchip Technology Incorporated is an Arizona-based manufacturing company that specializes in microcontrollers, mixed-signal, and other related circuits…

It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.301 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.94%.

10. The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)

GIM’s Stake Value: $394,222,000

The Cooper Companies currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.02%.

9. Carlisle Companies Incorporated (NYSE:CSL)

GIM’s Stake Value: $408,039,000

Carlisle Companies Incorporated is an Arizona-based manufacturing company that specializes in a wide range of products including optical fibers and defense electronics… it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.24%.

8. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

GIM’s Stake Value: $486,718,000

Thermo Fisher Scientific is an American supplier of scientific instruments, reagents, and other software products…

It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share with a dividend yield of 0.24%.

7. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

GIM’s Stake Value: $552,560,000

Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor company that also specializes in cloud computing and data centers….

It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.365 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.19%.

6. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

GIM’s Stake Value: $555,224,000

Applied Materials is a California-based manufacturing company that supplies services and software for the manufacturing of semiconductor chips…

The stock has a dividend yield of 1.19%.

5. Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADI)

GIM’s Stake Value: $649,049,000

Analog Devices is an American semiconductor manufacturing company that specializes in data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology…

(It has) a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share and… a dividend yield of 2.13%.

4. Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX)

GIM’s Stake Value: $789,414,000

Becton, Dickinson and Company is a New Jersey-based multinational medical device company…

It pays a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.49%.

3. The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

GIM’s Stake Value: $800,177,000

The Charles Schwab Corporation is a Texas-based financial services company that offers investment and commercial banking services to its consumers…

The stock has a dividend yield of 1.11%.

2. Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

GIM’s Stake Value: $836,163,000

Baxter International is an American multinational healthcare company that specializes in kidney diseases and other chronic conditions…

It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.09%.

1. Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

GIM’s Stake Value: $850,637,000

Equifax, a Georgia-based credit bureau company… Last year… announced that it will achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040…

It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.94%.” End quotes.

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2) The Winning ESG Companies

This next article is also fascinating. You’ll see in a moment. It’s titled Top 12 ESG Companies in 2022 on yahoo.com. By Fahad Saleem. Here are some quotes from Mr. Saleem…

“For this article we used the latest datasets of Just Capital a not-for-profit founded in 2013 by popular individuals like billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, Deepak Chopra, Rinaldo Brutoco, Arianna Huffington, Paul Scialla, Alan Fleischmann, among others.

Just Capital ranks the largest US companies based on their performance related to issues concerning environment, workers, customers, communities and shareholders…

We focused more on the environmental aspect of the ESG matrix of these companies…

12. Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ:EXC)

Exelon Corporation is an Illinois-based utilities services company that owns nuclear, fossil, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar generating facilities… claims to be the largest producer of zero-carbon electricity in the U.S.

11. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)

… in January last year announced that it plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its supply chain by 2040.

10. Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

In September last year, Cisco Systems Inc announced plans to reach net-zero emissions across all scopes by 2040.

9. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

In 2019, it became the first US telecom company to issue a green bond. The offering raised about $1 billion in net proceeds. Verizon Communications has announced plans to generate renewable energy equivalent to 50% of its annual electricity consumption by 2025.

8. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

The company says it’s building a digital version of our planet on which it’ll apply its AI and Omniverse technologies to predict weather changes and their effects over a span of several decades. NVIDIA Corporation GPUs will also be used to power the Department of Energy’s supercomputer called ‘Kestrel’ which is dedicated to advanced energy solutions.

7. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

… has an ambitious goal to become carbon neutral by 2030.

6. PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Payments giant PayPal Holdings Inc announced last year that it plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.

5. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)

… has set a goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

4. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

… announced in September 2021 that it achieved net-zero residual emissions across its full value chain and met its 100% renewable energy goal for its operations.

3. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

… plans to become carbon neutral by 2030… By 2050, Microsoft plans to remove the ‘historical emissions’ it created since its founding.

2. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

Earlier this year, Intel Corporation announced plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its global operations by 2040.

1. Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

… is the top ESG company in 2022, thanks to the billions of dollars’ worth of ESG-related investments and ambitious goals it has set for the betterment of the environment. In its 2022 ESG report, the parent of Google said that it issued a whopping $5.75 billion in sustainability bonds, easily surpassing all peers in the industry.” End quotes.

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3) The Winning ESG Companies

Now to the first of our two company ranking lists. The reviewing article is titled IBD’s 100 Best ESG Companies For 2022. It appears on investors.com and is by Kathleen Doler. Now some quotes from Ms. Doler.

“Topping the list this year is Worthington Industries (WOR). J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) took second place. And rounding out the top three is data analytics provider Verisk Analytics (VRSK).

All 100 companies on our 2022 list ranked in the top 15% of Dow Jones ESG scores and had an IBD Composite Rating of 81 or better (on a scale of 1 to 99), as of Aug. 31…

Technology behemoths Texas Instruments (TXN) and Apple (AAPL) finished fourth and fifth respectively.” End quotes.

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4) The Winning ESG Companies

The second company ranking also has an intriguing background. It’s called The Humankind 100 and this list is found on their site humankind.co. Here are some quotes from their site.

“The Humankind 100 list is compiled annually by the research team at Humankind Investments, an investment manager whose mission is to invest in the manner that is best for humanity. You can learn more about the Humankind Value methodology by visiting our research or articles pages…

Humankind 100 companies tend to contribute positively to humanity, for example by providing access to food, clean water, healthcare, or free digital services.” End quotes.

Incidentally, though Humankind purports a unique methodology, they arrive at pretty much the same companies as most other 'best company ESG' lists. Nonetheless, they have an interesting concept that will appeal to many ethical and sustainable investors. Their top five companies are Alphabet, Inc. (GOOGL), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ).

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5) The Winning ESG Companies

Now back to a favorite sector with this article. It’s titled Investing in green energy here are the top 5 stock picks on londonlovesbusiness.com. It’s by LLB Finance Reporter. Here are some brief quotes with their picks.

“With the green energy industry continually expanding, Maxim Manturov, Head of Investment Advice at Freedom Finance Europe, explores which companies are promising investment choices within the sector… (He chooses)

Tesla (TSLA) Plug Power (PLUG) Enphase Energy (ENPH) Sunrun (RUN) First Solar (FSLR).”

End quotes.

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Capital Keeps Flowing Into Green Bonds Despite Inflation Challenges

Finally, we have this article titled Capital Keeps Flowing Into Green Bonds Despite Inflation Challenges by Ben Hernandez on etftrends.com. Here’s some of what Mr. Hernandez says.

“One option for fixed income investors looking for ESG bond exposure who also want the yield that corporate bonds can offer is the Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF (VCEB). Additionally, the fund doesn’t command a high premium with its low expense ratio of 0.12% and a 30-day SEC yield of 5.51%, as of October 17.

(This bond fund) seeks to track the performance of the Bloomberg MSCI US Corporate SRI Select Index, which excludes bonds with maturities of one year or less and with less than $750 million outstanding, and it is screened for certain ESG criteria by the index provider, which is independent of Vanguard…

The fund has a discerning screener. This adds an air of purity for VCEB’s holdings, avoiding any greenwashing with a keen focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.

(It’s) highlights:

• Provides debt issues screened for certain ESG criteria.
• Specifically excludes bonds of companies that the index sponsor determines are involved in and/or derive threshold amounts of revenue from certain activities or business segments related to adult entertainment, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, nuclear weapons, controversial weapons, conventional weapons, civilian firearms, nuclear power, genetically modified organisms, or thermal coal, oil, or gas.
• Excludes bonds of companies that, as determined by the index sponsor, do not meet certain standards defined by the index sponsor’s ESG controversies assessment framework, as well as firms that fail to have at least one woman on their boards.” End quotes.

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One Other Honorable Mention

Title: Top 5 Renewable Energy Stocks For Q4 2022 on forbes.com. By Q.ai.

Canadian article

Title: 10 Best ESG ETFs in Canada for Ethical Investing in (2022) - on savvynewcanadians.com. By Enoch Omololu.

India article

Title: Best ESG Funds in India: How Are They Different from Other Mutual Funds? On indmoney.com.

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Ending Comment

Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “The Winning ESG Companies.”

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Thank you for listening.

Talk to you next on November 18th.

Bye for now.

© 2022 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul