10 Best Women-Run Companies to Invest In: Morningstar, 2022

Women lead some of the top companies in an array of U.S. industries, but their ranks remain disappointingly small. Only 8% of the companies on Morningstar's inaugural list of the best companies to own are led by female chief executives, Susan Dziubinski, director of content for Morningstar.com, wrote in a recent blog post. Dziubinski hastened to add that "buying a stock simply because the company's CEO is a woman doesn't make any more investment sense than buying a stock simply because the company's CEO is a man." Rather, she wrote, it's important for investors to examine fundamentals, consider valuation and apply whatever other investment metrics that matter to them before buying. Moreover, CEOs come and go, she said. "That woman-led company may be managed by a man — and vice versa — soon enough." That said, and with International Women's Day just around the corner, Dziubinski highlighted companies with female CEOs that made Morningstar's list of the best companies to own in 2022. These companies earned their spot on the list by having carved out wide Morningstar economic moat ratings and received a standard or exemplary stock capital allocation rating, which emphasizes the firm's balance sheet, investments and shareholder distributions. See the gallery for Morningstar's 10 best companies to own in 2022 that are run by women, according to Morningstar.