Energy Transfer has produced a monster total return over the last five years.Energy Transfer (ET 1.43%) is one of the largest energy midstream companies in the country. The master limited partnership (MLP) operates over 140,000 miles of pipelines that transport fossil fuels from production basins to end markets. Here's a look at how units of the MLP have performed versus the S&P 500 over the past five years and what has helped fuel its returns. Energy Transfer's five-year performanceAs the table below shows ...

Key Points Energy Transfer generates very stable cash flows. The MLP also has a conservative financial profile. It has the financial flexibility to grow its operations and high-yielding distribution. 10 stocks we like better than Energy Transfer › A high dividend yield is often a warning sign that a company's dividend isn't sustainable for much longer. Given that logic, Energy Transfer's (NYSE: ET) 8%-yielding dividend might seem a bit suspect at first glance. However, a closer look at the master ...

Core Viewpoint - Enterprise Products Partners is poised for a significant increase in free cash flow as it completes its multi-year capital investment phase, which began in 2022, with expectations of enhanced cash returns to investors by 2026 [1][11]. Group 1: Capital Investment and Infrastructure Expansion - The company has undertaken a major capital investment phase since 2022, constructing large-scale pipelines and marine terminals to support production growth in the Permian and Haynesville basins [2]. - Annual growth capital spending rose from $1.6 billion in 2022 to a peak of $4.5 billion in 2023, aimed at expanding infrastructure to transport increasing production volumes to the U.S. Gulf Coast [3]. - The completion of the last major expansion projects, including the Bahia natural gas liquids pipeline and the Neches River Terminal, is expected to reduce future capital investment needs significantly [5][7]. Group 2: Free Cash Flow and Returns to Investors - Enterprise Products Partners is on track to complete $6 billion of growth capital projects in the second half of the year, leading to a significant inflection point in cash flow generation [6]. - As capital spending declines, the company anticipates a substantial increase in free cash flow starting next year, allowing for higher distributions and unit repurchases [8][11]. - The company has consistently increased its distribution for 27 consecutive years, with a 3.8% increase over the last 12 months, and currently covers its distribution comfortably at 1.5 times [9]. Group 3: Unit Repurchase and Future Outlook - The unit repurchase authorization has been increased from $2 billion to $5 billion, providing additional capacity to repurchase units using excess free cash flow [10]. - The combination of rising free cash flow and increased cash returns positions Enterprise Products Partners for robust total returns in 2026, making it an attractive investment opportunity as the new year approaches [11].

Core Insights - Energy Transfer and Enterprise Products Partners are leading energy midstream companies in the U.S. with attractive income yields of 7.8% and 6.9% respectively, significantly higher than the S&P 500's yield of 1.2% [1] Group 1: Financial Performance - Energy Transfer generated $1.9 billion in cash during Q3, covering its distribution by approximately 1.7 times and retaining over $750 million [4] - Enterprise Products Partners generated $1.8 billion in cash during Q3, covering its distribution by 1.5 times and retaining $635 million [7] Group 2: Growth Outlook - Energy Transfer plans to invest $4.6 billion in growth capital projects this year and an additional $5 billion in 2026, with a significant project being the $5.3 billion Desert Southwest Expansion expected to complete by Q4 2029 [5] - Energy Transfer is also developing various expansion projects, including a large-scale LNG export terminal and oil pipeline expansions, enhancing its growth prospects [6] Group 3: Valuation and Payout - Enterprise Products Partners pays out a higher percentage of its stable cash flow compared to Energy Transfer but has a lower yield due to its higher valuation, trading at about 12 times earnings compared to Energy Transfer's valuation of approximately nine times earnings [9]

Core Viewpoint - High-yielding dividend stocks such as Enterprise Products Partners, Realty Income, and Main Street Capital are highlighted for their durable and steadily rising dividends, making them attractive options for passive income generation in 2026 [1][15]. Company Summaries Realty Income - Realty Income currently pays a monthly dividend yielding 5.8% and has a flawless record of increasing its payment at least once a year since its public listing in 1994, totaling 132 increases [3][6]. - The REIT generates stable cash flow from a diversified portfolio of commercial properties secured by long-term net leases, which provide steadily rising rental income [4][6]. - Realty Income maintains a conservative dividend payout ratio and a strong balance sheet, allowing for investments in new income-producing properties to support ongoing dividend increases [6]. Enterprise Products Partners - Enterprise Products Partners offers a distribution yield of 7.2% and has increased its distribution for 27 consecutive years since its IPO [7][9]. - The company operates under long-term fee-based contracts, ensuring stable cash flow, and retains a portion of its earnings for expansion projects [9][10]. - A major multi-year expansion phase is concluding, which is expected to enhance earnings and free cash flow, allowing for increased cash returns to investors in 2026 [10]. Main Street Capital - Main Street Capital has a unique dividend policy, paying a monthly dividend that has never been suspended or reduced, with a current yield of 7.6% [11][13]. - The company has increased its monthly dividend by over 130% since its IPO in 2007 and also pays supplemental quarterly dividends to meet IRS requirements [11][14]. - Main Street Capital provides debt and equity capital to smaller private companies, with strong income streams supporting its dividend payments and growth [14].

Core Insights - MPLX has increased its quarterly distribution by 12.5%, resulting in a yield of 8.4%, significantly higher than the S&P 500's 1.1% yield, continuing its streak of distribution growth since its IPO in 2012 [1][2] - The company generated nearly $1.7 billion in adjusted EBITDA during the third quarter, a 3% increase year-over-year, bringing the year-to-date total to $5.2 billion, reflecting a 4.2% year-over-year growth [3] - MPLX produced approximately $1.5 billion of distributable cash flow in the quarter, covering its raised payment level by 1.3 times, with a leverage ratio of 3.7 times, below the 4.0 times range supported by its cash flows [4] Expansion Projects - MPLX has a robust backlog of expansion projects, including two natural gas processing plants and two new natural gas pipelines, with in-service dates extending into 2026 [6][7] - The company has made significant acquisitions, including Northwind Midstream for $2.4 billion and a 55% interest in the BANGL pipeline for $715 million, which will contribute to incremental income and growth [7] - MPLX is expanding its capacity for the BANGL pipeline by 50,000 barrels per day, with expected in-service in the second half of 2026, and is also working on the Eiger Express Pipeline, expected to be completed by mid-2024 [8][9] Financial Profile - MPLX's energy midstream assets generate stable and rising earnings, providing the financial flexibility to maintain high distributions and invest in growth [11] - The company anticipates mid-single-digit annual adjusted EBITDA growth in the coming years, supported by its strong financial profile and ongoing expansion projects [9][10] - The completion of a $1 billion sale of non-core assets is expected to further improve its leverage ratio in the fourth quarter [4]

Core Viewpoint - Energy Transfer is highlighted as a top deep value dividend stock due to its attractive yield and low valuation compared to peers [1][3]. Valuation - Energy Transfer trades at approximately nine times its enterprise value (EV) to EBITDA, which is the second-lowest valuation in the energy midstream sector, where the average is about twelve times EV/EBITDA [3][9]. - The current valuation contributes to a high dividend yield of 7.9% [3]. Financial Position - The company is in its strongest financial position in history, generating enough cash to cover its high-yielding payout by about 1.9 times [4]. - Its leverage ratio is within the lower half of its target range of 4.0-4.5 times [4]. Growth Prospects - Energy Transfer is investing $5 billion into growth capital projects this year, which are expected to generate significant incremental cash flow as these assets come online [5]. - The company has approved additional growth capital projects, enhancing its growth visibility through the end of the decade [5]. - Expansion projects are underway to meet increasing gas demand from AI data centers, power plants, and global export markets [5]. Dividend Growth - The company has plans to increase its payout by 3% to 5% per year, supported by its growth initiatives [6]. Investment Appeal - Energy Transfer is positioned as an attractive option for investors seeking high yield and long-term upside potential, despite the requirement of filing a Schedule K-1 tax form [7]. - The combination of robust current income and potential valuation improvement suggests strong total returns over time [7].

Core Insights - Enterprise Products Partners is approaching a free cash flow inflection point next year as it completes its major growth capital projects [1][12] - The company has a current distribution yield of 7% and has consistently raised its payout for 27 consecutive years [2][13] Financial Performance - In the third quarter, the company's distributable cash flow decreased from $2 billion to $1.8 billion compared to the same period last year [3] - Despite the decline, the company covered its distribution by 1.5 times and retained $635 million in excess free cash flow [5] Operational Highlights - The company established nine new operational records, driven by strong natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) volumes [4] - It invested $2 billion in capital during the quarter, including $1.2 billion on organic growth projects and $583 million on acquiring natural gas-gathering systems [7] Growth Strategy - Enterprise Products Partners plans to invest $4.5 billion in organic growth capital projects this year, marking the peak of a multiyear capital deployment cycle that began in 2022 [8] - The completion of major projects, including the Neches River Terminal and the Bahia NGL pipeline, is expected to generate significant incremental cash flow [10][11] Future Outlook - The company anticipates a reduction in capital spending from $4.5 billion this year to between $2.2 billion and $2.5 billion next year, leading to increased free cash flow [12] - With a strong balance sheet and a low leverage ratio of 3.3 times, the company is well-positioned for future growth and cash returns to investors [14][15] Investment Potential - The combination of growth and increased cash returns positions Enterprise Products Partners as a strong long-term investment opportunity [17] - The company has added $3 billion to its buyback program, enhancing its capacity to return cash to investors [13]

Core Viewpoint - Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) like Energy Transfer and MPLX offer attractive dividend yields alongside solid growth prospects, making them compelling investment opportunities. Group 1: Energy Transfer - Energy Transfer announced a quarterly distribution rate of $0.3325 per unit, annualized to $1.33, with a forward yield of 7.8% [3][4] - The company generated nearly $4.3 billion in cash during the first half of the year, covering less than $2.3 billion in distributions, allowing it to retain about $2 billion [4] - Energy Transfer plans to invest $5 billion in growth capital projects this year, with significant projects expected to enter commercial service by the end of next year [6][8] - The MLP has a strong financial position, allowing it to continue increasing its payout by 3% to 5% annually [8] Group 2: MPLX - MPLX declared a quarterly distribution of $1.0765 per unit, annualized to $4.31, reflecting a 12.5% increase from the previous payment [9][11] - The company produced enough cash to cover its distribution by 1.6 times in the second quarter, with a low leverage ratio of 3.1x [11] - MPLX is investing over $5 billion into growth opportunities this year, including a $2.4 billion acquisition of Northwind Midstream [12] - The MLP has numerous organic expansion projects underway, with expectations of mid-single-digit annual earnings growth to support continued distribution increases [13] Group 3: Investment Potential - Both Energy Transfer and MPLX provide lucrative cash distributions that are expected to continue increasing, supported by strong financial profiles and growth prospects [14] - The combination of rising distributions and potential unit price appreciation offers robust total return potential for long-term investors [14]

Group 1 - Enbridge operates in the midstream energy sector, owning infrastructure assets like pipelines that transport oil and natural gas, characterized as a toll-taker business [2][3] - Enbridge has a reliable cash flow, allowing it to increase its dividend annually for three decades, with a current yield of 5.8%, significantly higher than the market average of 1.2% and the energy sector average of 3.2% [4][7] Group 2 - Realty Income is a large real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on net lease properties, which reduces risk by having tenants cover most operating costs [5][6] - Realty Income owns over 15,600 properties across the U.S. and Europe, with a focus on retail properties, which are considered low-risk due to their ease of buying, selling, and leasing [6] - Realty Income has a strong dividend history, increasing its dividend for 111 consecutive quarters, with a current yield of 5.3%, outperforming the market and the average REIT yield of 3.9% [8] Group 3 - PepsiCo is a diversified consumer staples company with a current dividend yield of 3.7%, providing a stable income stream [7]