Dividend Investors: Don't Be Too Quick To Buy Enbridge Inc. (TSE:ENB) For Its Upcoming Dividend

TSE:ENB) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 13th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of September.” data-reactid=”28″>Readers hoping to buy Enbridge Inc. (TSE:ENB) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 13th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of September.

Enbridge’s next dividend payment will be CA$0.81 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of CA$3.24 to shareholders. Last year’s total dividend payments show that Enbridge has a trailing yield of 7.3% on the current share price of CA$44.17. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Enbridge’s dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Enbridge has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

See our latest analysis for Enbridge ” data-reactid=”30″>See our latest analysis for Enbridge

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Enbridge paid out a disturbingly high 327% of its profit as dividends last year, which makes us concerned there’s something we don’t fully understand in the business. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Over the past year it paid out 142% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is uncomfortably high. It’s hard to consistently pay out more cash than you generate without either borrowing or using company cash, so we’d wonder how the company justifies this payout level.

Cash is slightly more important than profit from a dividend perspective, but given Enbridge’s payments were not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we are concerned about the sustainability of this dividend.

here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.” data-reactid=”37″>Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Enbridge’s earnings per share have fallen at approximately 6.6% a year over the previous five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

Many investors will assess a company’s dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Enbridge has delivered 16% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Enbridge is already paying out a high percentage of its income, so without earnings growth, we’re doubtful of whether this dividend will grow much in the future.

The Bottom Line

Has Enbridge got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Not only are earnings per share declining, but Enbridge is paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of both its earnings and cashflow to shareholders as dividends. This is a starkly negative combination that often suggests a dividend cut could be in the company’s near future. It’s not the most attractive proposition from a dividend perspective, and we’d probably give this one a miss for now.