Covanta and Green Plains Partners Don’t Let A Crisis Go To Waste
by Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
Last week, two of the stocks in my Ten Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio cut their dividends. Covanta Holding Corp (CVA) dropped its quarterly payout from $0.25 to $0.08 (a 68% cut) while Green Plains Partners (GPP) slashed its quarterly distribution from $0.475 to $0.12, a drop of 74.75%.
Before reducing their dividends, both companies had payout ratios near 100%, meaning that substantially all of their free cash flow was going to pay dividends. In general, companies are very reluctant to cut their dividends because it is a signal that their management thinks they cannot grow...
Divestment v Coronavirus: Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2020 January Update
by Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
January 2020- where do I start? A year of market-shaking news in a month.
The Brink of War
The month started off with a literal bang when Trump decided that a good way to distract the public from his impeachment trial would be to try to start a war with Iran by assassinating one of Iran's top military leaders, Qassem Suleimani. A week later, the world and markets heaved a collective sigh of relief when Iran decided that their honor had been satisfied with two missile strikes on US bases. While Trump reported no casualties, Iran's Foreign...
Buying Lime and Finavera (11 Clean Energy Stocks for 2012)
Tom Konrad CFA Portfolio performance March was a volatile month for clean energy, with many of my picks reporting earnings. My 11 picks were down 4% on average since my last update (March 1st to April 5th), compared to a 9% decline in the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Index (PBW), while the broad Russell 2000 index was flat. The hedged portfolio (see the original article for details) lost 5%. For the year to date, the portfolio has put in a strong performance, and is up 15%. PBW and the Russell 2000 are up only 3%...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2016: Year In Review
Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA 2016 was generally a good year for the stock market, but the average clean energy investor did not share in the gains. Clean energy investors naturally gravitate toward exciting stocks developing solar and, more recently, electric vehicles. These technologies are bringing great benefits to the planet and customers (including me- I installed a solar array on my home in in 2014, and my wife and I just bought a Toyota Prius Prime plug-in.) Investors' lousy returns are due to a common problem in sectors with rapidly improving technology: Competition within the industry...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2018
Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
Ten Years of "10 Clean Energy Stocks." A 38% total return in 2017 is the one to beat.
I started blogging about investing in clean energy stocks in 2005. At the time, I had just started an independent investment advisory practice, and thought blogging was a good way to impress people with my knowledge of clean energy. I don't know how many people I impressed, but the clients were hardly pounding down the door.
What I did learn, however, was that I loved writing about clean energy from the perspective of a stock investor. Because I was...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2016 Spring Forward
Tom Konrad CFA March and April were months of recovery for the broad market and for clean energy income stocks, but most clean energy stocks failed to participate in the rally. By design, my Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2016 model portfolio is heavily weighted towards income, recovering 9% in March and 6% in April so that it is now back in the black, up 0.8% year to date. This puts it ahead of its benchmark, which is down 0.8% through the end of April. I want to thank Aurelien Windenberger...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2015: Marching Ahead
Tom Konrad CFA My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio added a second month to its winning streak, with a 6.1% gain for the month and a 5.7% gain for the year, despite a continued drag by the strong dollar. If measured in terms of the companies' local currencies, the portfolio would have been up 7.5% for the month and 10.5% for the quarter or year to date. For comparison, the broad universe of US small cap stocks rose 1.5% for the month and 4.0% for quarter, as measured...
Canada’s Top Ten Cleantech Firms
Tom Konrad, CFA Given the small size of its economy and rather lackluster approach to climate change, Canada has many of the Cleantech stocks with the best prospects. Canadian listed firms come from a broad range of sustainable sectors, and a lack of attention from United States investors means that many trade at very attractive valuations. Corporate Knights' has picked ten of the best. I'm often surprised at how many of my favorite green stocks are listed in Canada. This year, two of my Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2010 are Canadian listed. The same was true for my...
Shares of Mechanical Technology and Medis Technology Purchased
I purchased shares of Mechanical Technology Inc (MKTY) and Medis Technologies Ltd. (MDTL) this morning for the mutual fund and also my personal portfolio. Both of these companies are working on the miniaturization of liquid fuel cells so that they can power portable electronic equipment like cell phones and laptop computers. Both companies have also secured contracts from the military to research portable fuel cells for military applications. Both companies announced earnings recently and still show no signs of becoming profitable in the near future. However, they have both made progress on trimming their losses. I feel that...