3 Infrastructure Stocks Built Around the Backbone of the Economy

Key Points

• Investors looking past AI volatility may find a quieter income trade in infrastructure stocks tied to grids, towers and long-term capital spending.
• National Grid offers one of the strongest income angles, with a high dividend yield tied to major grid modernization efforts in the United Kingdom and United States.
• American Tower and Crown Castle give investors two different ways to watch the communications infrastructure trade as the market waits for demand to reprice the stocks.

Investors have spent the last few years chasing the shiniest object in the market. In other words, artificial intelligence (AI). But there's a "safer" trade taking shape underneath the AI headlines; one built on wires, towers, and steel that the country has been neglecting for decades. It doesn't come with a flashy multiple, but it offers regular income and lower volatility.

Why Infrastructure Stocks Are Back in Focus in 2026

In 2021, the U.S. Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The idea was to jump-start the repair of the country's aging infrastructure. This means investing in traditional infrastructure projects like fixing roads and bridges, updating the electrical grid, and advancements in water and desalination.

That money has been consistently flowing into the economy. However, many investors considering infrastructure investments are looking at artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. That's understandable when you consider that billions of dollars are being spent to build the data centers and supporting infrastructure for this generational technology shift.

But in 2026, many investors have grown tired of the AI trade amid its volatility. That's putting some old-school infrastructure stocks back in favor. In addition to the forecasted stock price gains for each of these names, investors receive a high-yield dividend above the current elevated inflation rate.

National Grid Offers a High-Yield Play on Grid Modernization

At first glance, National Grid Transco NYSE: NGG looks like a boring, regulated utility company. However, the company is powering a transatlantic grid overhaul, connecting North Sea renewables while the US accounts for nearly 45% of its operations.

That dual-market footprint is exactly what makes National Gas interesting right now. The London-based company has operations in the United Kingdom and the Northeast United States.

On the UK side, the company is tapping offshore wind from the North Sea into a grid that was built for a different energy era. On the US side, its New England and New York utilities are seeing a surge in demand from data centers. The questions that accompany that demand are a key reason NGG has drawn a mixed set of recent analyst opinions.

As of this writing, NGG shares trade around $80.82, and the stock carries a consensus price target of $85.50, roughly 5.7% above current levels. That's a modest near-term forecast, which is reinforced by the current Wall Street consensus rating of Reduce.

Where NGG earns its spot on this list is the income side. The stock pays an annual dividend of $4.31 per share with a yield of about 5.30%, comfortably ahead of both the utility sector average and the broader market.

The payout is supported by a roughly 71% payout ratio, and National Grid has kept a dividend streak alive for 19 consecutive years. For investors willing to look past lukewarm analyst sentiment in exchange for a well-covered, high-single-digit yield tied to two of the developed world's biggest grid modernization efforts, NGG is a smart play on the "boring but beautiful" theme.

American Tower Stock Gets a Boost From 5G and Data Centers

Many investors are coming back to the 5G trade, and American Tower NYSE: AMT is a leading name to consider. 

American Tower is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and develops wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure.

In the case of AMT, a significant part of the bull case comes from data centers. That's what management said in the company's Q2 2026 earnings report as it raised its full-year 2026 outlook for the second time.

Institutional investors own over 90% of the stock's float and have increased their buying significantly since Q4 2025. But the stock price hasn't caught up yet. AMT is down nearly 40% in the last five years, and over 15% in the trailing 12 months.

However, the stock is now sitting about 23% below its consensus price target of $215.14. Plus, the stock's attractive dividend yield of roughly 4.13% has an annual payout per share of $7.16.

Crown Castle Could Benefit From Growing Data Center Demand

Crown Castle NYSE: CCI is another REIT to consider in the infrastructure trade. 

Like American Tower, Crown Castle reports that its tower business is benefiting from a growing data center tailwind. The opportunity is that the market doesn't appear to have priced in that growth.

Institutional ownership in CCI stock is over 90%, and buying was strong in Q2 2026. However, that hasn't meant much for the stock, which is down nearly 16% in 2026 and over 61% in the last five years.

Much of the stock’s recent performance follows a mixed first-quarter report in which Crown Castle beat earnings expectations, but revenue still declined nearly 5% from the prior year.

But like AMT, CCI is trading about 27% below its consensus price target of 95.13. Investors can also tap into the company's high-yield dividend of about 5.69%, which means investors can get paid to wait on the market to reprice the stock.

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