3 companies socially responsible investors should consider

Socially responsible investing soared to new heights, with investors now expressing more interest in the good that a company does over anything else. Corporations have taken notice of this new trend as they have begun taking steps towards projecting a better image for the public, and now, there are a lot of viable options for socially responsible investments. Per InvestorPlace, here are some choices investors can consider:

Microsoft

As one of the leading tech companies in the world, Microsoft is already one of the top choices for investors. Microsoft’s shares are stable at the $100 mark, and with the company still a prominent force in software and cloud services, it might not see any massive drops in the near future.

Beyond its financial performance, Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) is geared towards empowering communities and promoting growth. It donates its products to those in need, no matter where they are in the world.

According to a report released last year, Microsoft was able to donate $1.2 billion in software, and services to non-profits worldwide to help empower their services. Moving forward, the company is planning to connect 2 million people in rural America to broadband by 2022 in hopes of providing them with access to the economic, educational and health opportunities.

Tiffany & Co.

It’s hard to associate luxury jewelry retailers and manufacturers with social responsibility, as these companies face criticism for what their line of work does to the environment. Tiffany & Co. understands the public opinion on jewelry retailers, so it takes steps to ensure everyone that the materials used in its production are gathered from safely operating mines.

Tiffany & Co. practices responsible mining. It devotes time to fully understand the social, economic and environmental impacts of mining and processing of precious minerals from an area. It mines from areas it knows through and through. It also sources minerals from recyclable sources.

Kellogg’s made it in The Ethisphere Institute’s The World’s Most Ethical Companies list once again. (Photo by Fujoshi Bijou via Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Kellogg’s

Kellogg’s share price is moving near the $70 mark, and it maintains a market cap of $24.09 billion at the time of this writing. It is one of the largest stocks in the U.S. Aside from its market size, the company also was included in The Ethisphere Institute’s The World’s Most Ethical Companies list earlier this year, marking its 10th time to be a part of the said list.

The Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. Kellogg’s was recognized for its consistent efforts to integrate responsibility and sustainability into its core practices and its code of ethics. The numerous ethical practices awards it has bagged has made Kellogg’s the ideal choice for socially responsible investors.

These companies are impressive in both the financial and responsibility aspects. Investors should consider making a few stock purchases from these companies as their shares are expected to further rise within the following months or years thanks to the growing popularity of socially responsible investing.