Dividend increase: Enbridge

Article Excerpt

ENBRIDGE INC. $42 (Toronto symbol ENB; Income-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $75.6 billion; Dividend yield: 7.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.enbridge.com) continues to sell some of its less-important assets to help pay down the $22 billion of debt it assumed as part of its all-stock merger with Spectra Energy in February 2017. That firm operates crude oil and natural gas pipelines in the U.S. and Canada. Thanks to those sales and the extra cash flow from Spectra, Enbridge plans to raise its quarterly dividend by 10.0%. Starting with the March 2019 payment, investors will receive $0.738 a share, up from $0.671. The new annual rate of $2.952 yields a high 7.0%. The company also plans to raise its dividend by another 10% in 2020 . Enbridge is still a hold. hold…