Four Green Dividend Stocks That IPO’d In 2013
Tom Konrad CFA Disclosure: Long BEP, HASI. Canada’s stock exchanges have long had the lead as the place for energy infrastructure companies to list. This includes green energy, as well as the fossil fueled sort. Because Canada’s reporting rules are somewhat less stringent, and its markets less liquid than those in the US, the large number of offerings trade at lower valuations and higher yields than do their (few) US-listed equivalents. In fact, it was the promise of a higher valuation which led Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (NYSE:BEP, TSX:BEP-UN) to obtain its US listing on June...
Greening of Utility Dividends
Investors looking for income have long relied on the stocks of electric utilities. Naturally cash generative utility companies have a history of generous dividend payout policies. However, for those investors who have a concern about sustainability or climate change, even utilities with the highest dividend yields may not be appealing.
We looked at a selection of nine utility companies with mixed achievements in terms of the percentage of renewable energy sources found in their retail sales of electricity. The intensity of renewable energy in utility portfolios varies considerably across the industry. Many utilities are grappling with legacy coal and oil infrastructure. Others are not favored...
Hannon Armstrong Yeild On Track For 7% in Q4 With More To Come
Tom Konrad CFA After the close on Thursday, November 7th, Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (NYSE:HASI) declared third quarter earnings. Results were in-line with my, and other analysts’ expectations: Earnings per share (EPS) of 14 cents, and a declared dividend of 14 cents as well. This more than doubled the second quarter’s 7 cent EPS and 6 cent dividend. Note: I have a large long position in HASI. HASI remains on track to reach managements’ dividend target of “over 7% of the $12.50 IPO price” (22 cents a quarter,) and provided some additional guidance for future dividends....
Climate Bond Standard to be Released This Week
Tom Konrad CFA Conserving the planet for conservative investors. Investing in clean energy stocks has an (often well-deserved) reputation for risk. Although energy efficiency and more inclusive progressive energy indexes have held up fairly well over the last few years, the performance of narrower clean energy sectors has been dismal, and some industry observers feel that the declines in wind and solar are structural (and hence permanent) as opposed to cyclical (and therefor temporary.) This presents a conundrum for investors with long time horizons who not only need their investments to earn a steady return...
Yieldcos: Calling The Bottom
by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA On a podcast recorded on September 14th, I said I thought that Yieldco stocks had bottomed at the end of September. Two weeks later, that call still looks like a good one (see chart.) I'm starting to hear optimistic noises from other Yieldco observers, although the general tone remains quite bearish. Why do I think September 29th was the likely bottom? End of quarter. Some institutional investors such as mutual funds reshuffle their portfolios at the end of the quarter so that they don't have...
Funding The Energy Transition at Clean Energy Credit Union
by Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
With interest rates as low as they have ever been, I believe there is little point in small investors investing in bonds or bond funds, even if an allocation to fixed income is needed to match their investments to their ability and desire to take on risk. With little potential upside from interest, I believe it is better to take advantage of the added safety of federally backed insurance by depositing money in a bank or credit union savings account or certificate of deposit (CD) ladder.
We can do that and avoid having our deposits fund...
Five Pioneers Mining the Sun for Income
by Jared Wiedmeyer For the past few years, solar industry stakeholders have imagined a future where the general public has the ability to invest in pure-play renewable energy real estate investment trusts (REITs) that finance and construct both utility-scale and distributed photovoltaic (PV) projects in the United States. While these stakeholders wait for this reality to come to fruition, existing REITs already have several options to own or develop solar projects that still allow them to comply with the IRS's asset and income tests. This past May, Chadbourne & Park's Kelly Kogan and Scott Bank moderated a roundtable with...
The Sustainable Infrastructure Income Trust
Tom Konrad CFA Jeffrey Eckel Jeffrey Eckel has an investor relations problem. No, there has not been any scandal involving fudging the books or sweatshop labor. Rather, most investors simply don’t seem to “get” his company. His company recently went public as a REIT, or Real Estate Investment Trust, and the traditional REIT investor likes the familiar. They invest for income, and for many, a track record of past income and dividends is a must. While Eckel’s company manages $1.8 billion of securitized energy efficient and sustainable infrastructure...
Green Bonds Mid-Year Summary 2017
by the Climate Bonds Team
Climate Bonds looks at the last six months numbers, the trends and our tips for the rest of 2017
Green Bonds Mid-Year Summary 2017
Headline figures for the Half Year (H1)
2017 issuance to H1: USD55.8bn
Records broken: Quarter 2 (Q2) is the largest quarter of issuance on record at almost USD30bn
82 green bond deals issued in the quarter from 74 issuers
Over 50% of issuers were first time issuers
Green Bond transactions accounted for 3% of global bond market transactions in Q2 2017
Top 5 largest issuers of H1:
Republic of France (USD7.6bn),
EIB (USD2.8bn),
...
Sunny Climate For Solar Income Up North
Tom Konrad CFA Disclosure: I am long PW and HASI. In a rational world, the sunniest places would have the warmest reception for solar technology and investment. While solar is having its day in the sun in Hawaii, state incentives make the economics of photovolatics equally attractive in Vermont, a state not known for its sunny skies. And while California is famous for its rapid deployment of solar, the economics are at least as good in Washington state, New York, New Hampshire, and chilly Maine. It’s not only the economics of solar which can counter-intuitively get better...
Convertible Solar Bonds: Trina, SunPower Stoke Fire; Ascent Descends
by Sean Kidney Trina’s $150m 3.5% 5yr convertible solar bond In June Chinese solar manufacturer Trina announced the private placement of $150m of 5 year, 3.5% convertible bonds to “institutional investors” (no details provided). Trina weren’t clear how they would use the proceeds, but they are planning to build 400-500MW of solar plants over the rest of this year. Book-runners were Deutsche Bank, Barclays, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs (Asia), with co-manager HSBC. SunPower issues $400m 7yr 0.875% (!) convertible solar bond That same month SunPower announced a private placement of $400 million, 7 year, 0.875% senior convertible bonds. What...
Has the Sell-off Created Value Stocks Among Clean Energy Conglomerates?
Tom Konrad CFA The silver lining of all market declines is the chance to buy stock in quality companies at attractive prices. That opportunity has been notably absent over the last two years, which is why my focus has shifted to smaller and smaller companies in search of reasonable valuations over that time. Although I still don't believe the market is cheap by any measure other than comparing it to a couple months ago, the volatility is starting to bring some individual bargains, especially on heavy selling days. For instance, I've started to acquire some of...
Solar Investing Grows Up
Tom Konrad CFA Disclosure: Long HASI, BEP. Short PEGI calls, NYLD calls. When I was asked in an interview last month what I thought 2014 would hold for green tech finance, I said 2014 would be the year that “renewable energy finance comes of age.” What I mean is that a new type of renewable energy investment is proliferating. Solar, other renewables, and energy efficiency investments are no longer limited to risky growth plays like Tesla Motors (NASD:TSLA.) There are now a number of yield focused investments available to small investors. As of last year,...
Buying Innergex – Texas Was Bad, But Not That Bad
By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
Last week, I published this call to buy Innergex (INGXF, INE.TO) because investors had been overreacting to the losses from the February cold snap in Texas. The stock is up since then, but still seems a decent value.
Canadian Yieldco Innergex Renewable Energy (INGXF, INE.TO) took a big financial hit from the power disruptions in Texas in March.
It's complex, but their financial hedges on power prices for three of its wind farms ended up creating enormous liabilities - more, in fact, than two of their wind farms are worth. Two of their facilities also had benefits...
Nordex Issues First Green Schuldschein
by the Climate Bonds Team German green debt instrument raises €550m ($621m) for wind energy and gains Climate Bonds Certification. German wind company Nordex (NRDXF) is the first Schuldschein issuer to label its issue as green. The green issue is verified under the Climate Bonds Standard and sector specific Wind Standard. Assets include wind power manufacturing and infrastructure around the world. Nordex employed DNV GL to verify the green Schuldschein against the Climate Bonds Standard. The deal was split across four tranches with 3, 5, 7 and 10 year tenors. The joint underwriters were...
Climate Bonds Mid-Year Roundup
by the Climate Bonds Team
Halfway in 2016: Issuance Up on 2015: New Underwriters from China: And Where Will Green Bonds Land by Dec 31st?
The Headline Figures:
At the end of Q2, issuance for 2016 stood at USD 34.6bn – bringing it close to the total issuance for 2015 with 6 months of the year to go.
In the first two weeks since the end of Q2 - total issuance surpassed the 2015 total. We expect even more in the second half of the year.
USD 18.6bn issued in Q2 alone making it the highest single quarter of green bond...
