Chevron’s scale and diversification make it an easy stock to buy and forget.
Williams’ natural gas exposure makes it a compelling AI data center play.
Brookfield Renewable will profit from the growing demand for green energy solutions.
Energy stocks can be volatile, since they're often pinned to cyclical commodity prices and exposed to geopolitical conflicts. However, the sector's best stocks can also be resilient long-term investments, as global energy demand will keep rising.
I believe the best energy stocks are well-diversified and built to weather economic downturns. They should also reward their patient investors with high, yet sustainable, dividends.
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These three stocks check all the right boxes: Chevron (NYSE: CVX), The Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB), and Brookfield Renewable Corporation (NYSE: BEPC). Let's see why these three energy companies could deliver big gains for their investors over the next 10 years.
Chevron is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies. It has a presence in 180 countries, and it owns upstream, midstream, and downstream businesses.
Chevron gets most of its oil and natural gas from the U.S, Kazakhstan, and Australia. It still operates in the Middle East, but it's less exposed to the Iran conflict than many of its closest peers. However, soaring oil prices will still boost its upstream profits, generate more cash for its dividends and buybacks, and improve the margins of its megaprojects.
Chevron's scale and diversification enabled it to grow through wars and recessions, and it has raised its dividend annually for 39 consecutive years. It currently pays an attractive forward yield of 3.8%, and it still looks like a bargain at 14 times forward earnings.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Chevron's EPS to grow at a 23% CAGR. The company expects to increase its oil and gas production by 2%-3% annually through 2030.
That stable growth should be driven by the expansion of its Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, upgrades for its main oil field in the Permian Basin, new deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico, and more natural gas projects in Australia. Its recent acquisition of Hess also gives it more exposure to Guyana, one of the world's fastest-growing oil regions. All of those irons in the fire make Chevron a great energy stock to buy, hold, and forget for the next decade.
The Williams Companies is a midstream company that operates more than 33,000 miles of pipeline in the United States. It transports roughly 30% of the country's natural gas production.
As a midstream company, Williams charges upstream extraction companies and downstream refineries "tolls" to use its pipelines. But unlike many other midstream companies, which often transport crude oil and other resources, Williams only delivers natural gas and some natural gas liquids (NGLs) through its pipelines.
That business model makes Williams more of a direct play on the power-hungry AI, cloud, and data center markets -- which are driving up demand for natural gas -- than diversified midstream companies. It's also building new "behind the meter" (BTM) sites directly at data centers to provide hyperscalers with a stable flow of natural gas while bypassing traditional utilities.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Williams' adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to grow at an 11% CAGR as the AI-driven natural gas boom continues. With an enterprise value of $128 billion, it still looks like a bargain at 15 times this year's adjusted EBITDA. It also pays an attractive forward dividend yield of 2.7%.
Brookfield Renewable is a diversified green energy company that builds hydroelectric dams, wind farms, solar power plants, and other renewable energy projects. It ended 2025 with 47 GW of operating renewable capacity and another 200 GW of renewable projects in its pipeline.
Like Williams, Brookfield Renewable is profiting from the growth of the AI data center market. It's already secured long-term power agreements with hyperscalers like Microsoft and Alphabet's Google, and those deals come with "inflation escalators" that allow it to hikes it prices to keep pace with inflation. New decarbonization initiatives, rising sales of electric vehicles (EVs), and the reshoring of industrial companies are also generating more demand for renewable energy solutions.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Brookfield Renewable's adjusted EBITDA to grow at a 5% CAGR. With an enterprise value of $57 billion, it trades at just 14 times next year's adjusted EBITDA. Its high forward yield of 4.3% should further limit its downside in this shaky market.
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Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Chevron, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Renewable. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.