All It Takes Is $5,000 in Energy Transfer (ET) to Generate Hundreds in Annual Passive Income

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET), one of the largest midstream companies in the U.S., operates more than 140,000 miles of pipeline across 44 states. It delivers crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), and other refined products through its pipelines, and it exports liquefied natural gas (LNG) to overseas markets via its marine export terminals.

As a midstream company, Energy Transfer is well-insulated from volatile commodity prices because it merely charges other companies "tolls" to use its infrastructure. As a master limited partnership (MLP), it blends a return of capital with its own cash to pay tax-efficient distributions.

Why is Energy Transfer a great income stock?

Energy Transfer's business is built to generate stable cash and income for long-term investors. It pays a forward yield of 6.8%, which is easily sustainable because it spends only about half of its distributable cash flow (DCF) on distributions each year.

A $5,000 investment in Energy Transfer today will yield about $335 per year in annual income. Reinvesting those dividends will create even bigger compound returns.

Energy Transfer trades at just 12 times this year's earnings per unit (EPU), and it's well-positioned to capitalize on the data center boom (which relies on natural gas for 40% of its electricity in the U.S.) since it transports 30% of the country's natural gas. Therefore, this income-generating pipeline play is still a solid long-term investment.

Leo Sun has positions in Energy Transfer. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.