You don't have to invest exclusively in the so-called "exciting" stocks to get rich. Actually, the stocks that generate the most excitement for investors over the short term can often be big losers over the long term.
Of course, the amount of wealth needed to feel rich will be different for different investors. And no stock is guaranteed to make money.
However, I think that there are quite a few stocks that most investors probably wouldn't consider all that exciting that offer the potential for outstanding total returns over the long run. Here are three "boring" stocks that could make you rich.
1. AbbVie
It could be tempting to view AbbVie (ABBV -4.58%) as a has-been. The company achieved tremendous success in the past with its blockbuster autoimmune-disease drug Humira.
However, Humira no longer enjoys patent exclusivity in the U.S. or key European markets. As a result, AbbVie's revenue, profits, and share price have fallen in 2023.
AbbVie should still make long-term investors a lot of money, though. Its dividend alone helps quite a bit toward that goal. AbbVie's dividend yield currently stands at nearly 4.5%. I expect the dividend to become even better in the future, considering that the company is a Dividend King, with 51 consecutive years of dividend increases.
We don't have to depend only on AbbVie's dividend. The company already has a couple of worthy successors to Humira on the market with Rinvoq and Skyrizi. AbbVie thinks these two drugs will generate combined sales by 2027 that will be even greater than what Humira delivered at its peak.
In addition, AbbVie's product lineup includes several other rising stars such as migraine drugs Qulipta and Ubrelvy and antipsychotic therapy Vraylar. The company's pipeline features more than 90 programs in clinical development, and over 50 of them are in mid- or late-stage testing.
2. Ares Capital
You won't see a ton of coverage for business development companies (BDCs), which lend to middle-market businesses. Neither the BDCs nor their customers tend to attract significant interest from investors. But I think there's at least one BDC stock that should be on many investors' radar screens: Ares Capital (ARCC 0.73%).
The main reason why I think Ares Capital can make investors a lot of money over the long run is because that's what it has done in the past. The stock's average annual total return since going public in 2004 tops 12%. That's much better than the S&P 500's performance during the same period.
Can Ares Capital keep up its winning ways? I think so. It ranks as the largest publicly traded BDC. The company's portfolio is more diversified than most of its peers.
Ares Capital also focuses on the upper end of the middle market. These factors reduce the risk for its portfolio and help it make money on its investments.
Much of Ares Capital's total return comes from its dividend. As a BDC, the company must return at least 90% of its income to shareholders in the form of dividends to be exempt from federal taxes. Ares Capital's dividend yield currently tops 9.7%.
3. Enterprise Products Partners L.P.
Pipelines don't rev up investors' excitement nearly as much as the latest hot technology will. However, they generate steady cash flow month in and month out. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD 0.45%) operates more than 50,000 miles of pipelines that transport natural gas liquids (NGLs), natural gas, and other hydrocarbons.
Like AbbVie and Ares Capital, Enterprise Products Partners rewards investors handsomely through its dividends (which, as a limited partnership, the company refers to as distributions). Enterprise's distribution yield is over 7.6%. The midstream energy leader has increased its distribution for 25 consecutive years, with a compound annual growth rate of roughly 7%.
With its great distributions, Enterprise's share price doesn't have to do much of anything for investors to make a boatload of money over the long term. I suspect, though, that the stock will move higher (just as it has over the last three years), thanks to increasing demand for NGLs and natural gas.
