I have a fairly broad question about the value of dividend stocks in a general sense. Principally, as a thought expirment, I'm considering a case where the broad market doesn't exist and the only value proposition from a dividend stock is the value of its dividend distribution over time. Since in my mind the value of the stock would the value of it to me, in a scenario where only I and the issuing company exist.
In this case if the yield is something like 5% on a $100 stock it will take me ~3 decades to reap only a meager profit from my investment... Of course I can sell the stock, but then someone else just incurs the cost... shifting the deficit to them. If the pay out is fixed (not a percentage of growing profits that I benefit from as an investor) and only adjusted for inflation then I don't see how this becomes be profitable at all for a very long time...
Is this just the reality of investing? Am I missing something? (Assuming I'm very ignorant and missing a broad general insight here).