This podcast includes these articles: “Power Your Portfolio with Renewable Energy,” by Tony Sagami; “Top Solar Stocks for Q2 2023,” by Nathan Reiff; “Time to Buy These Alternative Energy Stocks?” By Shaun Pruitt; “How Faith-based Funds Are Evolving to Address Climate Change,” by Lewis Braham; “More Investors Turn to ESG Bond Funds,” by James Comtois

Transcript & Links, Episode 104, April 21, 2023

Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 104 and published on April 21, 2023, titled “Buy These Renewable Energy Stocks Say Analysts.” 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.

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, some companies might be covered more than once and there are also 4 article links below that time didn’t allow me to review them here.

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1) Buy These Renewable Energy Stocks Say Analysts

Now, again, ESG securities analysts continue to focus on renewable energy. This is one of several articles on that industry in this podcast. It’s titled Power Your Portfolio with Renewable Energy by Tony Sagami and seen on weissratings.com. Here are some of Mr. Sagami’s quotes on his picks.

“The EIA forecasts that both wind and solar will grow by 1% in 2023. But… wind is beating solar by a wide margin.

If you want to add wind power to your portfolio, there are several stocks you should consider.

1. Northland Power (NPI.TO) is a Canadian power producer focused on renewable energy — including wind farms, natural gas and solar energy facilities.

2. TransAlta Renewables (RNW.TO) is a Canadian renewable energy company that owns and operates wind, hydro and natural gas power plants.

3. NextEra Energy (NEE) is an electricity power producer utilizing wind, solar, nuclear, coal and natural gas.

4. Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWDRY) is a Danish wind energy company that owns massive wind farms in the U.S. and northern Europe.

5. Clearway Energy (CWEN) is one of the largest renewable energy operators in the U.S., with 5 GW of wind and solar energy projects and 2.5 GW of natural gas generation facilities.

6. TPI Composites (TPIC) manufactures wind turbine blades that produce one-third of all the onshore wind turbine blades.

If you are more of an ETF investor, take a look at First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN) and Global X Wind Energy ETF (WNDY).” End quotes.

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2) Buy These Renewable Energy Stocks Say Analysts

From the focus on wind, we turn to solar stocks with this article. It’s titled Top Solar Stocks for Q2 2023 and is by Nathan Reiff and posted on investopedia.com. Here’s some of what Mr. Reiff has to say about his recommendations.

“These are the solar stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows that you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

• Daqo New Energy Corp. (DQ) is a Chinese solar energy company that manufactures polysilicon for sale to manufacturers of solar cells and modules. The company also builds photovoltaic wafers. 12-Month Trailing P/E Ratio: 1.8.
• Brookfield Renewable Energy Corp. (BEPC) owns a portfolio of hydroelectric, wind, solar, and energy storage facilities across multiple continents, making it one of the world’s biggest publicly traded pure-play renewable energy companies. In late March, Brookfield announced that it will participate in a consortium to purchase Australian integrated power generator Origin Energy Ltd. for an enterprise value of $18.7 billion. 12-Month Trailing P/E Ratio: 3.9.
• Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) designs, builds, and sells solar equipment for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company’s products include solar modules, inverters, and system kits. Net income more than doubled and revenue climbed by 29% year-over-year for the final quarter of 2022, driven in part by a significant increase in solar module shipments. 12-Month Trailing P/E Ratio: 11.1

Fastest Growing Solar Stocks

These are the top solar stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly year-over-year (YOY) percentage revenue growth and most recent quarterly YOY earnings-per-share (EPS) growth.

• Altus Power Inc. (AMPS) is a commercial-scale clean electrification company providing solar generation, energy storage, and charging infrastructure nationwide. Net income attributable to the company rose by over 800% to $67.9 million for the most recent quarter reported. Net income growth was due in part to a $71.5 million non-cash gain from the remeasurement of warrants and alignment shares. Revenue Growth YOY: 24%
• Brookfield Renewable Corp. See (previous) company description… Revenue Growth YOY: 5.6%
• Daqo New Energy Corp. See (previous) company description… Revenue Growth YOY: 118.5%

Solar Stocks With the Most Momentum

These are the solar stocks that had the highest total return over the past 12 months.

• Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd. (ENLT) is a developer and owner of solar, wind, and energy storage projects in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. For the fourth quarter of 2022, Enlight reported record revenue of $61 million, a 74% increase from the prior year due mainly to growth in its Israel and Western Europe business. 12-Month Trailing Total Return: 740.3%
• First Solar Inc. (FSLR) designs and manufactures photovoltaic solar power systems and solar modules, serving customers around the world. Global renewable energy firm EDP Renewables finalized an order in March for 1.8 gigawatts of First Solar advanced thin-film photovoltaic modules, to be delivered through 2028. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 12-Month Trailing Total Return: 151%
• Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd. (MAXN) is a Singaporean solar company building and distributing a variety of solar energy components globally. 12-Month Trailing Total Return: 100.1% ” End quotes.

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3) Buy These Renewable Energy Stocks Say Analysts

Here’s a third article on the renewable energies theme. It’s titled Time to Buy These Alternative Energy Stocks? By Shaun Pruitt on finance.yahoo.com. Here’s some of what Mr. Pruitt has to say.

“1. Clearway Energy (CWEN) Worthy of consideration is Clearway Energy which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Clearway along with its subsidiaries owns and operates a diverse portfolio of contracted renewable and conventional generation, along with thermal infrastructure assets in the United States.

Furthermore, Clearway’s asset portfolio includes more than 9,000 megawatts (MW) of wind, solar, thermal, and natural-gas-fired power generation facilities as well as distract energy systems.  

Clearway’s earnings estimate revisions are noticeably up over the last quarter. Fiscal 2023 earnings estimates have climbed 26% over the last 90 days with FY24 EPS estimates soaring 98%…

2. Pineapple Energy (PEGY) Sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), Pineapple Energy stock is also standing out among alternative energy companies. Pineapple is focused on local and regional solar, storage, and energy services.

Pineapple’s portfolio of brands include Hawaii Energy Connection, E-Gear, Sungevity, and Horizon Solar Power which provide homeowners and small businesses with end-to-end product offerings spanning solar, battery storage, and grid services.

Pineapple’s growth is intriguing at the moment with the company edging closer to profitability. Earnings are expected to rise to $0.08 per share this year compared to an adjusted loss of -$0.96 a share in 2022. Even better, FY24 earnings are now projected to soar 337% to $0.35 per share.

Plus, sales are forecasted to climb 174% in FY23 to $85.20 million compared to $31.10 million in 2022. Fiscal 2024 sales are expected to jump another 40% to $119.30 million.” End quotes.

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How Faith-based Funds Are Evolving to Address Climate Change

Now to something completely different but of interest to some ethical and sustainable investors. It’s an article titled How Faith-based Funds Are Evolving to Address Climate Change by Lewis Braham. Found on barrons.com. Some interesting quotes here for faith-based investors. Quote.

“In the long history of faith-based investing, the Vatican’s publication of its investment guidelines, Mensuram Bonam, in November, 2022, was an important turning point.

Mensuram Bonam, which means ‘good measure’ in Latin, focuses on the global problems of income inequality and climate change. It quotes Pope Francis saying, ‘Civilization requires energy, but energy use must not destroy civilization,’ and cites the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as an ‘important framework’ for investors to consider. 

Funds’ Comment

When Barron’s Advisor first covered Mensuram Bonam, some faith-based mutual fund managers seemed caught off guard by the pope’s environmental concerns. That disconnect persists. ‘Most [faith-based fund companies] are trying to screen out things like [companies involved with] abortion and pornography,’ says Chris McMahon of Aquinas Wealth Advisors, a Catholic advisory firm in Pittsburgh. ‘It’s an enormous lift for these firms to pivot and then add this kind of environmental stuff.’

… Yet the U.S.’s long tradition of faith-based investing has included important pivots in the past. ‘People draw the origins of this movement to early congregations of Quakers speaking out against things such as the slave trade,’ says Will Sorrell, director of values-based investing at OneAscent, which runs four faith-based exchange-traded funds as well as private accounts. 

Sorrell says OneAscent has gradually shifted its Christian values-based policies to also incorporate environmental concerns and invest in companies having a positive impact on the environment…

Interestingly, OneAscent is unaffiliated religiously, but has ‘a broadly Christian Protestant evangelical worldview,’ Sorrell says. That gives it more flexibility to disagree with the Vatican.

Yet the largest Catholic values fund family, Ave Maria Funds, also apparently doesn’t see the need to shift its investment strategy based on the Vatican’s guidelines. ‘From our standpoint, [Mensuram Bonam] hasn’t impacted the way we manage the funds,’ says Timothy Schwartz, president of Ave Maria’s advisory firm, Schwartz Investment Counsel, which manages $2.9 billion…

Ave Maria Value (ticker: AVEMX) has 38% of its portfolio invested in energy stocks and it has voted against shareholder proposals for some of those companies to set long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.” End quotes.

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More Investors Turn to ESG Bond Funds

And for a change of subject, we turn to green bonds with this piece titled More Investors Turn to ESG Bond Funds by James Comtois and seen on etftrends.com. Here’s what Mr. Comtois says about one fund.

“Investors looking to increase their allocation to ESG-labeled corporate bonds may want to look into the Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF (VCEB). The fund seeks to track the performance of the Bloomberg MSCI U.S. Corporate SRI Select Index, a market-weighted corporate bond index that measures the investment return of investment-grade U.S. dollar-denominated bonds and is screened for certain environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria. Its index includes fixed-rate, taxable bonds with a maturity of more than one year…

(The) Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF had a 30-day SEC yield of 5.01% as of April 6 and carries an expense ratio of 0.12%” End quotes.

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Other Honorable Mention – not in any order

Title: 10 Cheap Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy Now by Fahad Saleem. Found it on finance.yahoo.com.

Articles from Outside the US

1. UK. Title: The best funds for green Isa investors, and how to make sustainable choices on inews.co.uk. By Holly Thomas.

2. UK. Title: Best ESG ETFs to Buy UK in 2023 on investingreviews.co.uk. By Antonia Medlicott.

3. Canada. Title: What Does Sustainable Investing Mean for Canadian Fund Investors? On morningstar.ca. By Ian Tam.

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Ending Comment

Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips — for this podcast titled: “Buy These Renewable Energy Stocks Say Analysts.”

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Talk to you next on May 5th.

Bye for now.

© 2023 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul