These Stocks Could Rise Further as Biden Takes on Climate Change

The ticket here is that we actually have a climate agenda now,” says Kristin Hull, founder and CEO of NIA Impact Capital, a sustainable investor. “This was the direction the global economy was moving anyway.” Hull says she’s been buying shares of

TPI Composites

(ticker: TPIC),

First Solar

(FSLR), and

Tesla

(TSLA) for clients this week.

Barron’s talked to Hull and other well-known sustainable investors and analysts about stocks they believed are still worth a look. Here’s what they said.

– Hull recommends TPI Composites, which sells materials used in making wind turbine blades. “Technology for harnessing wind, solar and waves has improved and there’s more demand. This is our new energy sector,” says. She also likes First Solar, globally recognized for its industrial solar panels, which are better at withstanding heat than others. “Ironically, we need this more as our world heats up,” Hull says. Both companies also have strong diversity and inclusion policies, Hull notes, which “gives me hope that they’re going to be able to recruit and retain talent and keep their [economic] moats.” This year, TPI stock is up 31%, to $658.40, and First Solar is up 45%, to $81.

– Matt Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management, said: “Broadly, a Biden win would lead to policies that would support the significant infrastructure needed to move to electrification of transportation, and away from dependency on the combustion engine and fossil fuels.” In addition, it accelerates the transition to clean power generation and improving efficiency. Winners include renewable energy, energy efficiency plays, industrial gas suppliers, providers of equipment and services in rail, environmental consulting, consulting firms focused on environmental permitting and siting, and water infrastructure. Many have already run up sharply, but Patsky thinks they have more headroom.

Among Trillium’s favorites:

Cree

(CREE), which makes materials and devices for electric vehicles and other applications;

Trane

(TT), a play on energy-efficient heating and air conditioning equipment and better filtration for improved air quality in buildings; and

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital

(HASI), a real-estate investment trust (REIT) that finances alternative energy projects like residential solar.

This year, Cree is up 40% to $64.54, Trane 41.4% to $145.80, and Hannon Armstrong 46% to $46.98.

– Francois Boutin-Dufresne, founder of Sustainable Market Strategies, is also a fan of Hannon Armstrong. In addition, Boutin-Dufresne likes General Electric (GE), which he says is pushing toward renewable energy solutions and moving away from producing equipment for power producers using coal. “The stock has gotten crushed: They’ll benefit a lot from the infrastructure push proposed by Biden, and pushing forward into the green future.”

Another pick from Boutin-Dufresne:

Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners

(BEPC), which invests in green assets such as hydropower projects, green real estate, infrastructure. “Any company that has infrastructure projects will benefit over the next couple of years. Packaging the projects making them happen: That’s the future under the Biden administration.”

This year, General Electric is down 19% to $9.04. Brookfield

Renewable Energy

Partners recently fetched $71.76.

– Steve Nguyen, a portfolio manager at

Causeway International Value Fund

(CIVVX), prefers European utilities with strong renewable exposure, which are farther ahead of U.S. utilities in terms of adopting a green agenda, but also…