Top Performing Green Stocks

The dynamic and diverse green technology sector has had a bumpy, and in some cases, rough year. The solar and nuclear industries, in particular, have struggled. While venture capital investment has been strong, investors in many exchange-traded funds have seen their investments suffer. Some of the biggest funds have notched deep double-digit losses — and that's after a strong October showing.

Some investors, however, have been rewarded. We looked at companies in the green industry, whose stocks have posted the biggest gains so far this year. It's a diverse bunch for sure, from size to type of business, and the technology involved is often complex. All the more impressive is that so many of their peers have lost ground this year.

Note: All values as of close Nov. 10, 2011

Click ahead to see the best gainers.

By Jessica Naziri
Posted 11 November 2011

Market Cap: $358 million
YTD Performance: +42%
52-Week High/Low: $18.18 / $9.55
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 4%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 20%

This Michigan-based company specializes in thermo-electric technology. Its main product is the proprietary "Climate Control Seat," which is sold to major automakers around the world. Amerigon has developed a solid-state circuit that creates hot or cold conditions from various sources of energy. In the car-seat application, energy is generated from the waste heat of a vehicle's exhaust system. The 20-year company holds 34 patents related to thermo-electric efficiency and other innovations.

Source: www.amerigon.com

Market Cap: $5.26 billion
YTD Performance: +12%
52-Week High/Low: $21.58 / $16.96
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 4%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 46%

The Michigan-based energy company focuses on independent power generation and serves individuals and businesses operating in the alternative energy, automotive, chemical, metal, and food products industries. Its principal subsidiary, Consumers Energy, is an electric and natural gas utility, which allows the company to economically purchase and store gas during warm months, for eventual use in the winter heating season.

Source: cmsenergy.com

Market Cap: $653 Million
YTD Performance: +28%
52-Week High/Low: $67.71 / $35.63
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 9%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 0.22%

The Indiana-based company specializes in the production of nickel- and cobalt-based alloys in sheet, coil, and plate forms that are sold in the aerospace, chemical processing, and land-based gas turbine industries. The company's products consist of high-temperature-resistant alloy products, such as jet engines for the aerospace market, gas turbine engines used for power generation and waste incineration; and corrosion-resistant alloy products found in chemical processing, power plant emissions control, and hazardous waste treatment.

Source: www.haynesintl.com

Market Cap: $2.35 billion
YTD Performance: +32%
52-Week High/Low: $26.48 / $15.56
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 4%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 19%

This Connecticut-based company specializes in composite materials and engineered products. The company manufactures and markets lightweight, high-performance composites, including carbon fibers, reinforcements, prepregs, honeycomb, matrix systems, adhesives, and composite structures. Hexcel's products are used in a variety of applications, such as commercial and military aircraft, space launch vehicles and satellites, wind turbine blades, automotive, bikes, and skis, as well as a variety of other industrial applications.

Source: www.hexcel.com

Industry: Semiconductors
Market Cap: $ 7.73 billion
YTD Performance: +20%
52-Week High/Low: $51.83 / $33.2
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 46%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 16%

The California-based company specializes in semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries. Its products are used in the LED, data storage, and photovoltaic industries, as well as general materials research. Tencor helps nanoeletronics manufacturers manage yield throughout their fabrication process — from research and development to final volume production.

Source: www.kla-tencor.com

Market Cap: $ 1.39 billion
YTD Performance: +13%
52-Week High/Low: $23.17 / $13.83
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 1%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 22%

The Florida-based infrastructure construction company specializes in the construction and integration of renewable energy systems including: electrical utility transmission and distribution, wind farms, solar farms, other renewable energy, natural gas and petroleum pipeline infrastructure, wireless, wireline and satellite communications, industrial infrastructure, and water and sewer systems.

In 2011, MasTec acquired Canadian energy pipeline and facility construction services company Fabcor TargetCo.

Source: www.mastec.com

Market Cap: $ 4.98 billion
YTD Performance: +11%
52-Week High/Low: $25.66 / $18.22
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 4.6%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 38%

NRG Energy is a New Jersey-based wholesale power generation company. It specializes in the supply of electricity, cleaner energy, and carbon offset products to retail electricity customers in deregulated markets through its retail subsidiaries Reliant Energy and Green Mountain Energy. The company also invests in solar, wind, and nuclear power, as well as electric vehicle infrastructure. In 2010, NRG acquired a pipeline of solar development projects from US Solar Ventures, which is an affiliate of Arclight Capital Partners. and South Trent Wind. In 2011 the company acquired Energy Plus Holdings and California Valley Solar Ranch.

Source: www.nrgenergy.com

Market Cap: $ 30 billion
YTD Performance: +5%
52-Week High/Low: $111.74 / $88.64
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 1%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 40%

The Connecticut-based industrial gas supplier helps a wide variety of industries preserve foods, produce computer chips, reduce emissions, as well as clean and recycle waste water. The company introduced the first distribution system for liquid gas in 1917, and developed on-site gas supply by the end of World War II. In the 1960s, Praxair introduced non-cryogenic means of air separation to separate oxygen from air and waste gas (nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide), which is then discharged into the air.

Source: www.praxair.com

Market Cap: $15.67 billion
YTD Performance: +22%
52-Week High/Low: $53.53 / $42.05
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 0.3%
Total Debt as a % of Assets: 39%

The North Carolina-based company is an energy utility holding company and is engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity in parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, and portions of Florida. As of December 2010, the company (collectively, PEC and PEF) had more than 22,000 megawatts of regulated electric generation capacity.

Source: www.progress-energy.com

Market Cap: $2.28 billion
YTD Performance: +61%
52-Week High/Low: $63.58 / $21.51
Cash & ST Investments as a % of Assets: 92.5%
Total Debt: $0

This New Jersey-based company specializes in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light-emitting diodes, or OLED — thin, lightweight devices that emit light, making them highly suitable for use in full-color displays. The company OLED technologies are used in the manufacture of display applications, such as cell phones, portable media devices, tablets, laptop computers, and televisions, as well as specialty and general lighting products. Universal Display has patent portfolio licensing rights to more than 1,000 OLED issued and pending patents worldwide.

Sources: www.universaldisplay.com