enbridge

TIM HORTONS INC., $96.97, Toronto symbol THI, shareholders will vote on the friendly takeover offer from BURGER KING WORLDWIDE INC., $34.81, New York symbol BKW, on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. If the deal is approved, Tim Hortons investors will have a number of options: They can sell their shares on the Toronto exchange and receive the current trading price of $96.97 (less brokerage commissions). If they don’t do that, they can opt for one of the three choices below by notifying their brokers no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 9, 2014....

ENCANA CORP. $21.00 (Toronto symbol ECA; Shares outstanding: 741.0 million; Market cap: $15.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.4%; www.encana.com) continues to sell less important natural gas properties as it shifts toward long-lasting projects that mainly produce oil and natural gas liquids, such as butane and propane. The company recently agreed to sell most of its natural gas properties in central Alberta’s Clearwater region for $605 million (Canadian). That’s equal to 83% of its second-quarter cash flow of $656 million U.S., or $0.89 U.S. a share. The company expects to complete the sale in the first quarter of 2015. The cash will help Encana pay for Texas-based oil producer Athlon Energy (New York symbol ATHL), which it recently agreed to buy for $7.1 billion U.S., including Athlon’s $1.15 billion U.S. of debt. Encana should complete this purchase by the end of 2014....

We still think investors will profit most—and with the least risk—by buying shares of well-established, dividend-paying stocks with strong business prospects.

These are companies that have strong positions in healthy industries. They also have strong management that will make the right moves to remain competitive in a changing marketplace.

Stocks like these give investors an additional measure of safety in today’s volatile markets. And the best ones offer an attractive combination of moderate p/e’s (the ratio of a stock’s price to its per-share earnings), steady or rising dividend yields (annual dividend divided by the share price) and promising growth prospects.

Here are 20 stocks we think meet those criteria:

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ENBRIDGE INC. $53.00 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 846.2 million; Market cap: $45.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yeield:2.6%; www.enbridge.com) plans to transfer its 66.7% stake in the U.S. portion of the Alberta Clipper pipeline to its American affiliate, Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (New York symbol EEP).

The 1,600-kilometre Alberta Clipper pipeline moves crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Superior, Wisconsin.

Enbridge will receive $300 million U.S. in cash and $600 million U.S. worth of Enbridge Energy Partners units. The $900-million U.S. total is equal to 2% of Enbridge’s $45.4-billion (Canadian) market cap.

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ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX FUND $21.54 (Toronto symbol XIU; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is a good low-fee way to buy the top stocks on the TSX. The units are made up of stocks that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index, which consists of the 60 largest, most heavily traded stocks on the exchange....

ENCANA CORP., $23.86, Toronto symbol ECA, has agreed to buy Athlon Energy Inc. (New York symbol ATHL). Athlon produces 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent (80% oil and 20% natural gas) a day from 1,138 wells in Texas’s Midland Basin. To put that in context, Encana’s daily output was 491,700 barrels (86% gas, 14% oil) in the second quarter of 2014. Right now, Athlon uses traditional vertical drilling techniques. However, Encana feels it can use its expertise with horizontal drilling to make Athlon’s wells more productive. That will help Encana reach its goal of producing 250,000 barrels of oil a day by 2017....

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day, at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading. Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds....

ENBRIDGE INC. $53.00 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 846.2 million; Market cap: $45.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yeield:2.6%; www.enbridge.com) plans to transfer its 66.7% stake in the U.S. portion of the Alberta Clipper pipeline to its American affiliate, Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (New York symbol EEP). The 1,600-kilometre Alberta Clipper pipeline moves crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge will receive $300 million U.S. in cash and $600 million U.S. worth of Enbridge Energy Partners units. The $900-million U.S. total is equal to 2% of Enbridge’s $45.4-billion (Canadian) market cap....

Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc., $30.32, symbol ENF on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 56.5 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; www.enbridgeincomefund.com), is a holding company that owns 85.6% of Enbridge Income Fund. Enbridge Inc. (symbol ENB on Toronto and a recommendation of The Successful Investor), holds the remaining 14.4%. If you include preferred shares and its 19.9% direct stake in Enbridge Income Fund Holdings, Enbridge Inc. has a 67.3% economic interest in the fund. Enbridge first sold units of Enbridge Income Fund Holdings to the public in 2003. In December 2010, the fund converted to a regular corporation....

ENBRIDGE INC. $56 (Toronto symbol ENB; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 846.4 million; Market cap: $47.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.enbridge.com) gets 90% of its revenue from pipelines that pump oil and natural gas from Western Canada to customers in Eastern Canada and the U.S. The remaining 10% mainly comes from distributing gas to 2.1 million consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State.

New pipelines and other projects boosted Enbridge’s revenue by 164.1%, from $12.5 billion in 2009 to $32.9 billion in 2013. Earnings rose 68.8%, from $857.4 million to $1.4 billion. The company sold shares to help pay for its expansion, so per-share earnings rose at a slower pace of 50.8%, from $1.18 to $1.78.

Enbridge now plans to spend $42 billion on new pipelines and other projects over the next few years. Of that total, $37 billion of these projects already have secure commitments from oil producers, which cuts the risk of these investments. The company expects these new assets to increase its earnings per share by 10% to 12% each year through 2017.

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