3 High-Yield Energy Stocks to Buy in September

The Alerian MLP Index has returned more than 25% in 2026, yet the article argues Energy Transfer, Enterprise Products Partners, and Western Midstream still offer attractive valuations and distributions. Energy Transfer yields 6.3%, trades at 8.5x estimated 2026 EV/EBITDA, and plans up to $5.9B of growth capex tied to AI-data-center gas demand and LNG exports. Enterprise offers a 5.8% yield, 28 consecutive years of payout growth, and expects double-digit EBITDA and distributable-cash-flow growth in 2027; Western offers a 7.5% yield, roughly 3x leverage, and targets 4%-5% annual EBITDA growth.

Analysis

The midstream rerating is increasingly a duration-and-capacity trade rather than a pure commodity-beta trade: contracted gas, NGL and export-linked volumes can support EBITDA even if Henry Hub weakens. ET has the greatest operating leverage to incremental infrastructure demand, so successful project commissioning could close part of its valuation discount versus EPD over the next 6-12 months. The offset is that its elevated growth spend raises the cost of schedule slippage, permitting delays and volume-underwrite errors; a higher distribution alone will not prevent multiple compression if leverage trends upward.

EPD is the cleaner defensive compounder, but its prospective step-up in earnings power is back-end loaded. That creates a potential 1-3 month de-risking window around quarterly backlog conversion, project completion milestones and 2027 guidance rather than an immediate upside catalyst. Its NGL franchise also makes it a less direct AI-power beneficiary than ET; a slowdown in Permian associated-gas growth or global petrochemical margins would matter more than headline data-center demand.

WES offers the highest current cash yield but embeds a less obvious concentration risk: Delaware Basin water handling is operationally attractive yet exposed to disposal-well permitting, induced-seismicity restrictions and producer capital-discipline decisions. Its basin concentration can outperform in a strong Permian tape, but makes WES the least suitable vehicle for an unhedged long-duration LNG/data-center thesis. Consensus appears to be treating the group as uniformly defensive; the key differentiator will be whether contracted projects earn their stated returns without requiring incremental equity or a distribution-coverage sacrifice.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Initiate a 6-12 month long ET / short EPD pair in equal dollar amounts only on a midstream-sector pullback: ET offers the larger multiple-closing and project-completion upside, while EPD hedges broad MLP yield compression. Target a 10-15% relative gain; exit if ET's leverage trajectory worsens or major projects are delayed.
• Maintain EPD as the core lower-volatility income exposure for the next 12-18 months, but avoid chasing strength ahead of 2027 guidance. Add on evidence that projects entering service are converting to EBITDA and distributable cash flow rather than merely remaining in backlog.
• Treat WES as a tactical yield position, not the primary sector long: size below ET/EPD and reassess over the next two quarterly reports for Delaware throughput, distribution coverage and water-disposal regulatory developments. A permitting restriction or reduced Occidental-led activity would falsify the cash-flow stability thesis.
• Set a sector risk trigger around a sustained decline in Permian drilling/completion activity or a material weakening in LNG-export construction schedules; either would challenge volume-growth assumptions and likely compress midstream EV/EBITDA multiples before reported EBITDA declines.