We just published our list of the 10 Stocks I Am Retiring On, and Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) ranked 10th on the list.
A retirement portfolio needs businesses that can keep rewarding shareholders long after the current market narrative fades. Dividends show how important those quieter sources of return can be: according to S&P Dow Jones Indices research cited in our coverage of Dividend Aristocrat stocks, dividends have accounted for roughly 31% of the S&P 500’s total return since 1926, with capital appreciation accounting for the remaining 69%. In the 1940s and 1970s, dividend income accounted for more than half of total returns. The lesson is not that every retirement investment must pay dividends, but rather that long-term shareholder gains can come from sources other than rising share prices.
Warren Buffett offers a useful test for that level of dedication. He has advised investors to buy only what they would “perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.” Rather than relying on the potential to sell tomorrow, investors should consider how much the underlying business may make over a decade. That business-owner perspective is the common thread running through Insider Monkey’s discussion of Warren Buffett’s best long-term stocks to buy.
For retirement investors, the distinction between a high starting dividend and an increasing dividend is crucial. The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index requires components to have increased dividends for at least 25 years in a row. This is a record that spans numerous economic cycles, though it doesn’t guarantee future growth. Insider Monkey’s analysis of dividend growth stocks to buy and hold in 2026 looked at 68 such companies and evaluated their five-year average dividend growth rates.
Of course, financial strength is just as important as payout record. A dividend competes with debt repayments, capital spending, and other financial requirements. Liabilities are broader than debt, but the comparison shows the type of liquidity cushion worth considering alongside dividend yield.
Enbridge earned its place on the list after The Motley Fool’s Matt DiLallo named it a stock he planned to buy in his retirement account, while Seeking Alpha’s Leo Nelissen included it in his 20-stock model retirement portfolio. Its short interest was 1.14%, and 31 hedge funds owned shares in Q2 2026, putting it tenth in our rankings.
Enbridge Inc. is North America’s largest pipeline operator, and its stock is priced based on cash flow rather than earnings. The third-quarter results, released on November 6, were steady. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 4% to C$4.43 billion, while distributable cash flow (DCF) surged by C$123 million to C$2.69 billion. However, adjusted net income of C$1.07 billion fell short of the C$1.10 billion projection. Management reiterated its 2026 DCF guidance of C$5.70 to C$6.10 per share, expecting to finish at the midpoint.
The company’s income profile explains why Motley Fool contributor Matt DiLallo picked Enbridge among the companies he planned to buy in his retirement account in February 2025. His thesis focused on consistent dividend growth: a distribution of 60% to 70% of reliable cash flow, an investment-grade balance sheet, and retained cash for future expansion. He saw the combination as a way to increase retirement income without relying just on share price appreciation.
A few details soften the picture. Debt-to-EBITDA grew to 5.1x, exceeding the 4.5x to 5.0x target. Enbridge recently completed a $3 billion equity offering to fund $3.65 billion in acquisitions. CEO Greg Ebel will retire at the end of the year, with Michele Harradence taking over on January 1. The more serious issue is rising interest expenditure, which is a true cash cost and makes balance-sheet discipline critical to the dividend premise. Insider Monkey asked as to why the shares were trading roughly 18% lower than their high, despite the fact that revenue had nearly doubled prior to the report. Read about it here.
While we acknowledge the potential of ENB as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
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Source: finance.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.
