This $55 Energy Stock Could Be Your Ticket to Future Riches

Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) has increased its dividend annually, in Canadian dollars, for 31 consecutive years. The dividend yield is currently a lofty 5%. If you buy this North American midstream energy giant, you are setting yourself up for years of reliable and growing dividends. But there's an important nuance you need to understand before you buy the stock.

Enbridge is a slow and steady tortoise

Enbridge's core business is moving oil and natural gas around the world. It charges fees to the customers using its vast North American portfolio of energy infrastructure assets. This is a reliable business that grows slowly over time as fees are increased and new assets are acquired or built. You aren't likely to get rich quick here, but you can build material wealth over time. Notably, the 5% dividend yield gets you halfway to the 10% return that most investors expect from the market.

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In this way, Enbridge is a good energy stock to own, no matter what happens to oil prices. The volume flowing through the company's system is more important than oil prices. And since energy is so important to the world's normal functioning, demand for Enbridge's services is strong most of the time.

Enbridge is preparing for the future today

The interesting thing about Enbridge is that it isn't focused on serving the energy industry. It is focused on providing the world with the energy it needs. When it started as a business, it was focused on moving oil. As the world shifted toward cleaner energy sources, it began moving toward natural gas.

Today, it not only owns natural gas pipelines but also a portfolio of regulated natural gas utilities. Regulated utilities are even more reliable cash flow generators than pipelines. Notably, the company's utility operations offer more consistent investment opportunities. So this shift helps make Enbridge an even more consistent business overall, even though slow-and-steady growth is still the norm.

But wait, there's more!

There's one more piece of the puzzle with Enbridge, its clean energy business. Today, clean energy is just a small part of Enbridge, but it is also a relatively small part of the global energy supply, too. Enbridge is dipping its toe into an emerging energy niche to be ready to supply the world with the energy it needs for decades to come.

Basically, clean energy is the piece that completes the story, showing that Enbridge isn't thinking about today. It is thinking decades into the future. Which is why buying this high-yield energy stock today can help you build riches over the long term, slowly and steadily.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Enbridge. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Enbridge. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.