Smart ESG investing means taking into consideration a company's corporate values as well as its environmental practices. Also essential is a company's ability to make solid returns in all types of market environments.
As part of IBD's fifth annual 100 Best ESG Companies special report, we review companies not solely on their ESG scores but also on how they fare against their competitors in similar industries.
Public companies that made our 2023 100 Best ESG Companies list combine high Dow Jones sustainability scores with superior IBD technical and fundamental stock ratings. They are standouts for ESG investing.
The tables below highlight IBD's best ESG stocks in eight industry categories, including technology, retail, finance and more.
Companies that top their industry lists and also are in the top 10 in the 2023 List of 100 Best ESG companies include Microsoft (in the top spot overall), Verisk Analytics, Caterpillar and Mastercard.
Microsoft also ranked highly on our list of 3 best companies in 8 industry sectors, as well as on our list of top-scoring companies in 5 sustainability dimensions.
Best ESG Stocks: How IBD Created Its Lists
To build the 2023 100 Best ESG Companies list, we started with each company's environmental, social and governance (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.
Read Our Full Special Report On IBD's 2023 100 Best ESG Companies, Our Feature Story On Green Patent Innovation And See The Full List Of Winners.
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 ESG investing list by removing those companies that did not meet or beat the S&P 500 in the past five years. We selected the 100 with the highest IBD Composite Rating — all with scores of 81 or better. To break any ties, we looked at companies' Relative Strength Rating and then, if needed, their EPS Rating. Finally, we ranked the 100 companies by Dow Jones' ESG score.
More from our report:
Read our profiles and interviews on the top-scoring companies:
- Microsoft: This 'Magnificent Seven' Stock Also Is The Best ESG Company
- At Applied Materials, Cutting Carbon Emissions Is A Team Effort
- Woodward's Focus On Energy Pays Off with High ESG Score, Strong Stock Performance
Computer
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | MSFT | 72.76 |
| 2 | Dell Technologies | DELL | 67.07 |
| 3 | Adobe | ADBE | 66.75 |
Building
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owens Corning | OC | 64.53 |
| 2 | Jacobs Solutions | J | 62.78 |
| 3 | Watts Water Technologies | WTS | 59.21 |
Commercial Services
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verisk Analytics | VRSK | 71.58 |
| 2 | Gartner | IT | 65.82 |
| 3 | CoStar | CSGP | 60.11 |
Semiconductors
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Applied Materials | AMAT | 71.71 |
| 2 | Nvidia | NVDA | 69.40 |
| 3 | Lam Research | LRCX | 65.06 |
Medical
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eli Lilly | LLY | 62.81 |
| 2 | Zoetis | ZTS | 61.83 |
| 3 | Idexx Laboratories | IDXX | 57.37 |
Retail
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TJX | TJX | 65.00 |
| 2 | Chipotle Mexican Grill | CMG | 59.97 |
| 3 | Costco Wholesale | COST | 58.20 |
Machinery
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caterpillar | CAT | 70.66 |
| 2 | Dover | DOV | 68.65 |
| 3 | Parker-Hannifin | PH | 58.36 |
Finance
| Rank | Company | Symbol | ESG score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mastercard | MA | 71.57 |
| 2 | Visa | V | 62.71 |
| 3 | Prologis | PLD | 59.65 |
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