Reliable Passive Income Sources: EPD and SO
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: May 01 2026
0mins
Source: Fool
- Stability of Enterprise Products: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) mitigates commodity price volatility by charging energy companies fees for using its infrastructure, ensuring stable income in the energy sector, with a remarkable 27-year history of distribution increases demonstrating strong financial resilience.
- Strong Distribution Coverage: EPD's distribution is covered by distributable cash flow at a solid 1.7x ratio in 2025, indicating the ability to maintain dividends even in adversity, making its 5.6% yield attractive to conservative investors.
- Reliability of Southern Company: Southern Company (SO) has consistently increased or maintained its dividend for 78 years, with increases in the last 24 years, and its current dividend yield of 3.2% is notably higher than the utility sector average, showcasing its stability amid economic uncertainty.
- Future Growth Potential: Southern Company is expected to achieve approximately 8% earnings growth annually through 2030, and with its strong dividend history, future dividend growth seems highly likely, further solidifying its position as a foundation for passive income investments.
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Analyst Views on EPD
Wall Street analysts forecast EPD stock price to fall
12 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
5 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 37.730
Low
33.00
Averages
35.17
High
38.00
Current: 37.730
Low
33.00
Averages
35.17
High
38.00
About EPD
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is a provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals. Its NGL Pipelines & Services segment includes natural gas processing and related NGL marketing activities, NGL pipelines, NGL fractionation facilities, NGL and related product storage facilities and NGL marine terminals. Its Crude Oil Pipelines & Services segment includes crude oil pipelines, crude oil storage and marine terminals and related crude oil marketing activities. Its Natural Gas Pipelines & Services segment includes natural gas pipeline systems that provide for the gathering, treating and transportation of natural gas. Its Petrochemical & Refined Products Services segment includes propylene production facilities; butane isomerization complex and related deisobutanizer (DIB) operations; octane enhancement, iBDH and HPIB production facilities; refined products pipelines, and others.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Analysis of Steady Income from Enterprise Products Partners
- Stable Income Source: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) generated approximately $8 billion in distributable cash flow in 2025, with 80% to 85% derived from fee-based activities, establishing a stable income foundation suitable for income-focused investors in the energy sector.
- Consistent Dividend Growth: EPD has raised its dividends for over 25 consecutive years, even through multiple commodity cycles, currently offering a yield between 5% and 6%, demonstrating strong cash flow coverage that attracts long-term investor interest.
- Conservative Financial Structure: The company maintains a leverage ratio of approximately 3.2x to 3.3x for 2025-2026, reflecting a conservative financial position that allows for internal funding of growth projects while still returning capital to shareholders, enhancing investor confidence.
- Risk Management Strategy: For smaller investors, EPD's predictable cash flow and sustainable dividends make it an ideal choice for minimizing risk, especially in volatile market conditions, ensuring stability and reliability in investments.
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Enterprise Products Partners: A Stable Cash Flow Investment Choice
- Stable Cash Flow: Enterprise Products Partners generated approximately $8 billion in distributable cash flow in 2025, with 80% to 85% of earnings derived from fee-based activities rather than direct commodity price fluctuations, ensuring a stable foundation for dividends.
- Dividend History: The company has raised its distribution for over 25 consecutive years, even through multiple commodity cycles, currently offering a yield in the 5% to 6% range, demonstrating its appeal and reliability among income-focused investors.
- Conservative Financial Structure: Enterprise Products Partners maintains a conservative leverage ratio of around 3.2x to 3.3x for 2025-2026, allowing it to fund growth projects internally while still returning capital to shareholders, which is crucial for long-term stability.
- Small Investment Suitability: For investors with $500, Enterprise Products Partners provides predictable cash flow and sustainable payouts, ensuring stability and manageable risk in the absence of diversification, which is essential for smaller capital investments.
See More
Steady Investment Choices Amid High Oil Prices
- Attractive Yields: Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge offer dividend yields of 5.6% and 5.1%, respectively, and despite the tax complexities for investors, their stable cash flows and long histories of dividend growth make them ideal for conservative investors.
- Stable Cash Flows: Both companies operate large energy infrastructure in North America, where their fee-based model prioritizes transportation volumes over energy price fluctuations, allowing them to maintain strong cash flows even in a high oil price environment, ensuring dividend sustainability.
- Chevron's Diversification Advantage: Chevron provides a 3.7% dividend yield, and with its globally diversified operations and strong balance sheet (debt-to-equity ratio of about 0.25), it demonstrates resilience amid oil price volatility, making it suitable for investors looking to invest directly in oil production.
- Future Oil Price Expectations: While current oil prices are high, history shows that volatility is the norm, so investors should proceed cautiously, considering the potential for future price declines; the stable dividends from Enterprise, Enbridge, and Chevron provide a safety margin for investors.
See More
Oil Price Volatility Influences Investment Strategies
- High-Yield Investment Options: Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge offer attractive yields of 5.6% and 5.1%, respectively, appealing to conservative investors seeking stable cash flows amidst high oil prices, thereby mitigating investment risks.
- Dividend Reliability: Enterprise has increased its dividend for 27 consecutive years, while Enbridge has done so for 31 years, demonstrating their ability to maintain stability in a volatile energy market, which enhances investor confidence.
- Attractiveness of Chevron: Despite oil price fluctuations, Chevron provides a 3.7% dividend yield, and its strong balance sheet, with a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 0.25, showcases its resilience throughout the energy cycle, making it suitable for investors wanting direct exposure to oil production.
- Cautious Investment Advice: Given the current geopolitical tensions driving up oil prices, investors should proceed with caution, as high prices are not sustainable; opting for stable high-yield stocks like Enterprise and Enbridge can help protect investments when oil prices eventually decline.
See More
Enterprise Products Partners: A Safe Choice for High-Yield Investors
- Stable Dividend Growth: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) boasts a 29-year track record of consecutive dividend increases, positioning it to potentially become a Dividend King within the next two decades, showcasing its resilience and appeal in uncertain market conditions.
- High Yield Advantage: With a current dividend yield of 5.7% and an average annual growth of 3.6% over the past decade, EPD stands out among high-yield stocks, attracting income-focused investors seeking stability.
- Industry Growth Potential: EPD is expanding its over 50,000-mile pipeline network to meet rising natural gas demand driven by the AI data center boom, which is expected to further enhance annual cash distribution growth.
- Buyback Plan Boosts Confidence: The company plans to repurchase up to $5 billion in units by 2025, indicating strong confidence in future cash flows and providing additional value returns for investors.
See More
Enterprise Products Partners: A Safe Choice for High-Yield Investors
- Stable Dividend Growth: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) boasts a 29-year track record of consecutive dividend increases, currently yielding 5.7%, indicating its ability to maintain stable payouts even during economic challenges, thereby boosting investor confidence.
- Industry Growth Opportunities: The company is expanding its over 50,000-mile pipeline network to meet rising natural gas demand driven by the AI data center boom, which is expected to propel future cash distribution growth.
- Capital Project Investments: Enterprise Products Partners is currently undertaking nearly $5 billion in major capital projects, which will not only enhance its cash flow but also provide funding for future unit buybacks, further increasing shareholder value.
- Risk Management Advantage: Compared to other energy companies, Enterprise Products Partners mitigates risks associated with oil and gas price volatility through its stable revenue model and long-term fixed contracts, making it a preferred choice for high-yield investors.
See More
Analysis of Steady Income from Enterprise Products Partners
- Stable Income Source: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) generated approximately $8 billion in distributable cash flow in 2025, with 80% to 85% derived from fee-based activities, establishing a stable income foundation suitable for income-focused investors in the energy sector.
- Consistent Dividend Growth: EPD has raised its dividends for over 25 consecutive years, even through multiple commodity cycles, currently offering a yield between 5% and 6%, demonstrating strong cash flow coverage that attracts long-term investor interest.
- Conservative Financial Structure: The company maintains a leverage ratio of approximately 3.2x to 3.3x for 2025-2026, reflecting a conservative financial position that allows for internal funding of growth projects while still returning capital to shareholders, enhancing investor confidence.
- Risk Management Strategy: For smaller investors, EPD's predictable cash flow and sustainable dividends make it an ideal choice for minimizing risk, especially in volatile market conditions, ensuring stability and reliability in investments.
See More
Enterprise Products Partners: A Stable Cash Flow Investment Choice
- Stable Cash Flow: Enterprise Products Partners generated approximately $8 billion in distributable cash flow in 2025, with 80% to 85% of earnings derived from fee-based activities rather than direct commodity price fluctuations, ensuring a stable foundation for dividends.
- Dividend History: The company has raised its distribution for over 25 consecutive years, even through multiple commodity cycles, currently offering a yield in the 5% to 6% range, demonstrating its appeal and reliability among income-focused investors.
- Conservative Financial Structure: Enterprise Products Partners maintains a conservative leverage ratio of around 3.2x to 3.3x for 2025-2026, allowing it to fund growth projects internally while still returning capital to shareholders, which is crucial for long-term stability.
- Small Investment Suitability: For investors with $500, Enterprise Products Partners provides predictable cash flow and sustainable payouts, ensuring stability and manageable risk in the absence of diversification, which is essential for smaller capital investments.
See More
Steady Investment Choices Amid High Oil Prices
- Attractive Yields: Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge offer dividend yields of 5.6% and 5.1%, respectively, and despite the tax complexities for investors, their stable cash flows and long histories of dividend growth make them ideal for conservative investors.
- Stable Cash Flows: Both companies operate large energy infrastructure in North America, where their fee-based model prioritizes transportation volumes over energy price fluctuations, allowing them to maintain strong cash flows even in a high oil price environment, ensuring dividend sustainability.
- Chevron's Diversification Advantage: Chevron provides a 3.7% dividend yield, and with its globally diversified operations and strong balance sheet (debt-to-equity ratio of about 0.25), it demonstrates resilience amid oil price volatility, making it suitable for investors looking to invest directly in oil production.
- Future Oil Price Expectations: While current oil prices are high, history shows that volatility is the norm, so investors should proceed cautiously, considering the potential for future price declines; the stable dividends from Enterprise, Enbridge, and Chevron provide a safety margin for investors.
See More
Oil Price Volatility Influences Investment Strategies
- High-Yield Investment Options: Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge offer attractive yields of 5.6% and 5.1%, respectively, appealing to conservative investors seeking stable cash flows amidst high oil prices, thereby mitigating investment risks.
- Dividend Reliability: Enterprise has increased its dividend for 27 consecutive years, while Enbridge has done so for 31 years, demonstrating their ability to maintain stability in a volatile energy market, which enhances investor confidence.
- Attractiveness of Chevron: Despite oil price fluctuations, Chevron provides a 3.7% dividend yield, and its strong balance sheet, with a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 0.25, showcases its resilience throughout the energy cycle, making it suitable for investors wanting direct exposure to oil production.
- Cautious Investment Advice: Given the current geopolitical tensions driving up oil prices, investors should proceed with caution, as high prices are not sustainable; opting for stable high-yield stocks like Enterprise and Enbridge can help protect investments when oil prices eventually decline.
See More
Enterprise Products Partners: A Safe Choice for High-Yield Investors
- Stable Dividend Growth: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) boasts a 29-year track record of consecutive dividend increases, positioning it to potentially become a Dividend King within the next two decades, showcasing its resilience and appeal in uncertain market conditions.
- High Yield Advantage: With a current dividend yield of 5.7% and an average annual growth of 3.6% over the past decade, EPD stands out among high-yield stocks, attracting income-focused investors seeking stability.
- Industry Growth Potential: EPD is expanding its over 50,000-mile pipeline network to meet rising natural gas demand driven by the AI data center boom, which is expected to further enhance annual cash distribution growth.
- Buyback Plan Boosts Confidence: The company plans to repurchase up to $5 billion in units by 2025, indicating strong confidence in future cash flows and providing additional value returns for investors.
See More
Enterprise Products Partners: A Safe Choice for High-Yield Investors
- Stable Dividend Growth: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) boasts a 29-year track record of consecutive dividend increases, currently yielding 5.7%, indicating its ability to maintain stable payouts even during economic challenges, thereby boosting investor confidence.
- Industry Growth Opportunities: The company is expanding its over 50,000-mile pipeline network to meet rising natural gas demand driven by the AI data center boom, which is expected to propel future cash distribution growth.
- Capital Project Investments: Enterprise Products Partners is currently undertaking nearly $5 billion in major capital projects, which will not only enhance its cash flow but also provide funding for future unit buybacks, further increasing shareholder value.
- Risk Management Advantage: Compared to other energy companies, Enterprise Products Partners mitigates risks associated with oil and gas price volatility through its stable revenue model and long-term fixed contracts, making it a preferred choice for high-yield investors.
See More
