I'm building a portfolio of dividend stocks that should eventually produce enough income to offset my expenses. Each month I buy more shares of companies that pay attractive and growing dividends as cash flows into my account from dividend payments and recurring transfers.
This month, I'm most excited to add to my positions in Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP 0.23%), Energy Transfer (ET 0.17%), and NextEra Energy (NEE -1.06%). Here's why I can't wait to buy more of them this April.
Too cheap to ignore
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is already one of my larger positions, along with its corporate twin, Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (BIPC -0.69%). However, I can't resist adding to my position this month because of how cheap the partnership units have gotten relative to the market and the shares of their corporate sibling. Partnership units were recently below $34 apiece, while the corporate shares traded over $46 each. Since they're economically equivalent, they pay the same dividend rate of $0.3825 per unit/share. That gives the partnership a 4.5% distribution while the dividend yield on the corporate shares is only 3.3%.
That's an attractive yield from a company with an excellent history of growing value for its investors. Since its inception, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has produced a 16% annualized total return, easily outpacing the S&P 500's 10% annualized total return. Driving those strong returns is Brookfield's ability to grow its funds from operation (FFO) and dividend at attractive rates. Since forming in 2008, FFO per unit has grown at an 11% compound annual rate while the distribution has expanded at a 9% compound annual rate.
Brookfield expects both to continue growing. It has enough embedded organic drivers to grow its FFO per unit at a 6% to 9% annual rate, which should support 5% to 9% dividend growth each year. Meanwhile, its capital recycling program can provide an additional boost to its bottom line. Brookfield Infrastructure's FFO grew by 12% last year and should grow by more than 10% in 2023 after investing $2.9 billion across five deals.
A monster payout
Energy Transfer has come a long way in recent years. The midstream giant had to slash its distribution in 2020 to retain more cash for debt reduction. That enabled the company to reduce leverage, which is now within its target range of 4.0 to 4.5 times debt to EBITDA. As its balance sheet improved, the master limited partnership (MLP) was able to slowly increase its payout to the prior peak.
It boosted its distribution by 75% over the past year. As a result, Energy Transfer now yields an eye-popping 9.8%. That monster payout is on a much firmer foundation, given the MLP's stronger balance sheet and steadily rising cash flows. This year, Energy Transfer will produce enough cash to cover its payout and capital expenses with room to spare.
That gives it the financial flexibility to take advantage of opportunities to enhance its operations and accelerate growth. It recently agreed to acquire Lotus Midstream for $1.45 billion. The leverage-neutral transaction preserves its financial flexibility while growing its footprint in the Permian Basin and bolstering its free cash flow. The growing cash flows from capital projects and acquisitions should enable Energy Transfer to keep raising its payout in the future.
Plenty more growth ahead
NextEra Energy recently increased its dividend by another 10%. That pushed the clean energy-focused utility's payout up to 2.4%. The company has grown its dividend by around a 9.9% compound annual rate since 2007.
That payout should continue heading higher in the future. NextEra expects to increase it by around 10% again next year. Meanwhile, the company has increased visibility into its long-term growth outlook. It expects its adjusted earnings per share to grow by as much as a 9.4% compound annual rate from 2021's base through 2026 at the high end of its target ranges.
Meanwhile, the company's longer-term outlook is just as bright. Last year's passage of the Inflation Reduction Act was "transformational for our industry and our business," according to comments by CEO John Ketchum on the fourth-quarter conference call. That is because it provides clear incentives to support a broad range of renewable energy technologies for a long time. It will enable NextEra to confidently invest in new projects that should grow its earnings and dividend in the years to come.
Great income producers
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Energy Transfer, and NextEra Energy offer above-average yields, which will help boost my income in the near term. Meanwhile, they should all be able to grow those payouts in the future. That combination should help me reach my income goals more quickly. It's why I can't wait to add to my positions in this trio in April.
