Starbucks Corporation (SBUX), Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) & NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE): Ethical Investing for the Ordinary Investor

The outfit has boosted earnings per share by 20.0% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This follows WFM’s history of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. The company continues to outperform the S&P 500, a trend that should continue making Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) a good buy.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) is part of the utilities sector and utilities industry. It is included here because it has been previously rated as one of the best socially responsible energy companies by Forbes Magazine (2011). This is primarily due to the fact that NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) is the largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar polar in North America.

The firm announced decreased on profits on April 30, 2013, but most analysts remain optimistic about the stock. In fact, shares hits a new 52-week high – currently around $82+ above its previous 52-week high of $81.35. The energy company has a market cap of $34.01 billion and shares are up more than 16% in 2013.

While revenue decreased from the same period last year this is a reflection of the energy outfit’s continued investments in renewable energy from the wind and sun. Despite falling revenues most analysts remain optimistic about the stock and rate the company as a buy. The bottom line: NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has a history of strong stock performance – a trend that should continue as the company increases its market share in renewable energy.

Socially Responsible Mutual Funds

Calvert Equity Fund (CSIX) is one of the oldest funds dedicated to SRI and capital appreciation. Calvert is a large cap fund that invests primarily in large US outfits like Google, Apple and CVS/Caremark. Over the past 15 years, the fund’s annual returns have been 6.9% – compared to 5.5% for the S&P. So far in 2013, the rate of return has been 5.25%.

TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equity Fund Retail Class (MUTF:TICRX) seeks a long-term total return that reflects performance of the broader US stock market while considering certain social criteria. TIAA-CREF selects roughly 1,000 stocks from the Russell 3000 based on 5 standards like the use of natural resources, labor relations and corporate governance. It then balances those selections with the performance of the indexes benchmark rate of return. Over the past five years, the fund returned an annualized 2.5%, but its expense ratio is 0.61% – higher than other SRI funds.

In the final analysis, ethical investing is really a question of values and this is a personal matter. Ultimately, investing and making money can be ethical endeavor if investors stick with their values in making investment decisions.

The article Ethical Investing for the Ordinary Investor originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Kyle Colona.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.