Specta purchase adds risk

Article Excerpt

ENBRIDGE INC. $52.00 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $85.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.enbridge. com) completed its all-stock purchase of Spectra Energy in February 2017. That firm operates crude oil and natural gas pipelines in the U.S. and Canada. It also owns oil and gas storage facilities. Thanks to savings from this merger, Enbridge has increased its quarterly dividend by 4.6%, to $0.61 a share from $0.583. The new annual rate of $2.44 yields a high 4.7%. The company also expects to raise the annual dividend rate by 10% to 12% each year from 2018 to 2024. However, big acquisitions like Spectra add risk. They can have hidden problems that delay the expected gains. Enbridge is still a hold. hold…