Top 10 Most Transparent Companies Revealed in 2024 U.S. Transparency Awards by Labrador

Business Wire 19-Sep-2024 8:27 AM

Intel, Dow, and Mastercard recognized for excellence in corporate disclosure

Intel, Dow, and Mastercard have emerged as champions, securing top honors in the 2024 U.S. Transparency Awards unveiled today by Labrador, a leading global communications firm specializing in transparent corporate disclosure documents. The rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation of corporate disclosure documents among the top 250 companies in the S&P 500¹ and recognize companies dedicated to building investor and stakeholder trust through clear, concise, and effective communication.

The Transparency Awards celebrate the 10 most transparent U.S. companies, the top three leaders in 11 industries, and the best performers in individual disclosure categories—from best overall transparency, proxy statement, and ESG reporting to Form 10-K, investor relations websites, codes of conduct, and plain language usage.

"The transparency movement is driving companies to provide clearer, more accessible information, which allows investors, employees, and all stakeholders to better understand a company's true value," said Broc Romanek, chair of the Transparency Scientific Committee, which oversees the awards. "Those that embrace this openness find they benefit from increased investor interest, stronger partnerships, and better voting outcomes. These awards recognize leaders driving meaningful progress, demonstrating how transparent communication fosters trust, engagement, and sustained success."

Now in their sixth year, the U.S. Transparency Awards have achieved prominence among some of the most respected public companies in the world. View the video awards announcement here.

TOP 10 MOST TRANSPARENT U.S. COMPANIES

1. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
2. Dow (NYSE:DOW)
3. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)
4. The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)
5. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)
6. Xcel Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL)
7. CSX Corp. (NASDAQ:CSX)
8. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)
9. Visa (NYSE:V)
10. Prologis, Inc. (NYSE:PLD)

WINNERS IN INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES

Best Overall Transparency: Intel Showcasing true transparency, Intel earned top marks for its consistent and thorough disclosures, effectively communicating its mission, vision, and strategy with clear introductions and summaries across all documents. The company aligns board priorities with its strategy and uses graphics to clarify key metrics and processes. Dow and Mastercard ranked second and third.

Best Proxy Statement: Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin excels in providing a clear and easy-to-navigate proxy statement that balances summaries, details, and visuals throughout. It effectively outlines and connects Board priorities, engagements, core competencies, and strategic skills. Freeport-McMoRan and Gilead Sciences received the next highest rankings.

Best ESG Report: Ecolab Ecolab takes top honors and was awarded a precision score of 93.2%, which measures the completeness and prioritization of voluntary information shared. The company is recognized for its comprehensive goals overview, progress summary, and insights on how ESG aligns with their mission, vision, and purpose. Prologis and Dow placed second and third.

Most Improved Overall: Ford Motor Company Ford's dedication to addressing stakeholder needs is evident in its impressive 116-place leap, driven by significantly improved scores for their proxy and ESG reports. They also placed 14 among the top 20 most transparent companies, underscoring their commitment to transparency. CVS Health and Ecolab received the next highest rankings.

Best Form 10-K: ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips delivered a document that is easy to read and well designed, going beyond human capital management requirements to include global workforce statistics on gender and race, as well as employee turnover metrics. Moody's Corporation and Bank of America placed second and third.

Best Investor Relations Website: Bank of America and Honeywell International Marking the award's first tie, Bank of America and Honeywell International stand out for IR websites that are easy to navigate, offering key information for readers only a few clicks away and dedicated landing pages for the annual meeting. Runner up: Cognizant Technology.

Best Code of Conduct: NextEra Energy NextEra Energy puts readers first with intuitive navigation, featuring direct links to policies throughout the document. The introductory letter sets the tone by emphasizing the importance of ethics, compliance, integrity, following the code, and reporting concerns. AIG and Procter & Gamble received the next highest rankings.

Most Efficient Plain Language - Proxy Statement: Rockwell Automation Rockwell Automation provided transparent communication in its proxy statement by using clear, concise language to build value and trust between stakeholders and the company. Johnson & Johnson and John Deere rank second and third.

TOP INDUSTRY WINNERS

• Communication Services: T-Mobile, Verizon Communications, and Netflix
• Consumer Discretionary: Ford Motor Company, Home Depot, and Marriott International
• Consumer Staples: Target, Mondelez, and General Mills
• Energy: ConocoPhillips, Hess, and Williams Companies
• Financials: Mastercard, Allstate, and Visa
• Healthcare: Elevance Health, Merck, and CVS Health
• Industrials: CSX Corporation, RTX, and Lockheed Martin
• Information Technology: Intel, Cognizant Technology, and ServiceNow
• Materials: Dow, Freeport-McMoRan, and Ecolab
• Real Estate: Prologis, American Tower, and VICI Properties
• Utilities: Xcel Energy, Duke Energy, and Exelon

2024 Awards Methodology:

Each year, experts from Labrador evaluate the corporate disclosure documents of the top 250 companies of the S&P 500. This year, the team collected 70,000 data points and evaluated each organization's disclosure documents using 234 objective criteria² that reflect the award's five pillars of transparency – accessibility, precision, comparability, availability, and clarity.

The Transparency Scientific Committee, an independent group of current and former institutional investors, proxy advisors, in-house practitioners, and regulators, oversees this objective process by updating the transparency criteria and award categories, and verifying winners.

To learn more visit TransparencyAwards.com. To review analysis of good, transparent disclosure throughout the year, visit RealTransparentDisclosure.com. Companies wishing to inquire about their ranking should contact transparency@labrador-company.com.

ABOUT LABRADOR Labrador, the creator and organizer of the Transparency Awards, is an independent firm specializing in transparent investor and stakeholder communications. With more than 30 years serving clients in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Labrador's mission remains the same – to bridge the gap between compliance and communication by creating, designing, and publishing reader-centric documents that generate shareholder trust and reinforce their investment decisions. Focusing exclusively on corporate disclosure documents, and with more than 500 clients worldwide, Labrador provides unique insight into industry trends and best practices, and award-winning innovation and initiatives.

For further information, visit Labrador-company.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.

¹ The top 250 companies in the S&P 500 index are ranked, with no need to apply and no fee. Each company receives its own confidential annual ranking. The list of companies was created in February 2024, and the data collected between February 4 and July 31, 2024.

² These awards spotlight best practices and allow companies to track their annual performance against the open-source criteria published by Labrador in an effort to establish transparency standards that will contribute to a broad improvement in corporate disclosure readability and efficacy.

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