2 Magnificent Dividends To Buy And Hold Forever

Apr 26, 2026 RLJ, RLJ.PR.A, EPD

Rida Morwa Investing Group Leader

Summary

• Certain items are worth their weight in gold to us, despite not fetching much when sold.
• The best investments are the ones you never feel the need to sell.
• We discuss our top picks to buy and hold for a lifetime of passive income.
• Looking for more investing ideas like this one? Get them exclusively at High Dividend Opportunities. 

Co-authored with Hidden Opportunities

Can you name one of your possessions that you’ve held onto for years, something that has quietly stood the test of time?

For some, it’s a wedding band, serving as a symbol of a lifelong commitment made by two people. Others think of the phrase “diamonds are forever” as a way of saying that the hardest known substance to human beings depicts unmatched hardness and durability (not the James Bond movie starring Sean Connery).

You may have also heard the phrase “worth its weight in gold.” Not all prized possessions are valuable from a monetary standpoint. Some people have a memory box for their children, storing meaningful toys and artifacts that remind them of their kids growing up. Family photographs, heirlooms, and recipes are popular examples of objects that are cherished for decades, often by multiple generations. I’m reminded of a cousin who planted a tree each time one of his children was born. Today, those children are in their teens, and in his backyard stand two strong, deeply rooted trees, growing steadily year after year, requiring little attention, yet impossible to ignore.

Some assets are worth more in your hands than in the market. If you have a 20-year-old car that is well-maintained and runs perfectly, odds are high that selling it will fetch you no more than a few thousand dollars. Yet, the value in that asset comes in its ownership and regular use, rather than the cash it can secure by selling it in the market at pennies.

The most valuable things in life are often not the flashy, valuable ones. They are the ones that last.

Investing can work the same way. While markets swing between euphoria and fear, there are select investments designed not for excitement, but for endurance. These assets quietly generate cash flow quarter after quarter, year after year, and are often structured to reward patience, to incentivize holding, and to compound wealth over time. They are well-positioned to be the prized possessions of your portfolio. Today, we will discuss two forever income plays that are built to keep paying.

Pick #1: EPD – Yield 5.8%

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) is one of the largest midstream operators in North America, based on infrastructure, pipeline mileage, and market capitalization. EPD owns and operates over 50,000 miles of pipeline, and 300 MMBbls of Liquids Storage, among other infrastructure essential for secure storage, processing, and transportation of NGLs, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Petrochemicals, and Refined Products, from energy basins to customers and export terminals. ~90% of EPD’s long-term contracts have CPI-linked escalation provisions, providing inflation protection, and ~80%–90% of its gross operating margin is fee-based, providing much-needed insulation from commodity prices.

Note: EPD is Master Limited Partnership that issues a Schedule K-1 to investors

EPD maintains a strong balance sheet, rated investment-grade A3, and the partnership ended 2025 with $5.2 billion in liquidity and a 3.3x leverage ratio, one of the lowest levels in the midstream industry. EPD ended 2025 with a 4.7% weighted-average cost of debt and a comfortable maturity schedule.

The partnership has $4.8 billion of major capital projects under construction, with 5 out of 6 estimated to come online in 2026. 55% of EPD’s gross operating margin is from the partnership’s NGL business, followed by Natural Gas at 16%. The United States is a low-cost supplier of NGLs to the world, and we estimate ~15-25% of Adj. EBITDA likely comes from direct export demand. We also note that EPD is the largest individual global LPG supplier, exporting a third of total U.S. LPG exports. The complete disruption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has a profound impact on the global supply, and EPD stands to benefit from higher U.S. exports.

However, this large dependence on exports also comes with risks and considerations. When the U.S. Government imposed export controls on ethane to China, EPD management noted that they could redirect product to other countries to mitigate the effects, but it would take time. The worst possible outcome for EPD is the Government imposing an outright cap on energy exports. While we don’t anticipate this scenario materializing at this time, it cannot be ruled out entirely because the U.S. trading policy and global energy dynamics are rapidly evolving. A cap on energy exports would result in volume backup domestically, terminal utilization drops, and a sharp decline in fee-based revenues for EPD.

EPD boasts 27 years of consecutive distribution raises and currently yields 5.8%, with a 1.7x coverage. These payments are typically 100% ROC, making them beneficially tax-deferred for eligible investors. Management expects new assets to come online at high utilization levels, supporting organic growth in Adj. EBITDA, and continued distribution increases.

Pick #2: RLJ-A – Yield 7.9%

RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ) is a hotel REIT that owns and operates 92 hotels with ~21K rooms in 23 states. Over 50% of the REIT’s Adj. EBITDA comes from the Sunbelt states, and most of its portfolio comprises assets that are part of the network of top global hotel brands like Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, etc. Source

RLJ maintains a healthy balance in property classes across urban lifestyle (39% of 2025 Adj. EBITDA), urban gateway (36%), urban metro (11%), and resort properties (14%). America 250 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup are significant events this year, and notably, 62% of FIFA WC matches are scheduled to be played in RLJ markets.

RLJ cut its quarterly common stock dividends to $0.01/share during the COVID-19 pandemic, a brutal time for the travel industry, but maintained its preferred stock dividends. Since 2022, in light of improving fundamentals and outlook, the company has been focusing on capital returns to shareholders. This includes significant dividend increases and share repurchases.

RLJ’s $0.15/share common stock dividend calculates to a 7.6% annualized yield at an impressive 40% payout ratio. RLJ spends $25.1 million annually on preferred stock dividends. This compares with $209 million in AFFO generated (which RLJ calculates after subtracting preferred stock dividends). The REIT ended 2025 with $1 billion in liquidity (including $410 million in restricted cash) and has no debt maturities until 2029. Source

For 2026, management projects Adj. EBITDA between $312 and $342 million and AFFO/share between $1.21 and $1.41, which places its current dividend at a comfortable 45% payout ratio.

• $1.95 Series A, Cumulative Convertible Perpetual Preferred Shares (RLJ.PR.A) – Yield 7.9%

RLJ-A is a convertible preferred, which has negligible chances of being subject to a forced conversion into common stock due to the need for +1,100% upside ($89.09/share for 20 trading days). We believe this is quite improbable at this time. As such, RLJ-A can be considered as a perpetual source of yields, backed by a well-managed hotel REIT.

Conclusion

At High Dividend Opportunities, we want your portfolio to be worth its weight in gold, not because you plan to sell it, but because of what it pays you to hold it. The best investments aren’t traded; they’re owned, and they quietly deliver income, year after year, proving their value over time.

Markets will move, and there will be varying frequencies of noise surrounding them. Real wealth is built by staying steady and consistent. Because sometimes, the greatest returns come not from what you sell, but from what you never have to. This is the power of income investing.