Investors can find great large-cap stocks to buy outside of the S&P 500. They can also find stocks with exceptional dividend track records that aren’t on any list of so-called dividend royalty. How? Look outside the U.S.
The S&P 500 and the widely followed groups of stocks with long histories of dividend increases are limited to the stocks of companies headquartered in the U.S. However, plenty of stocks of companies based outside the U.S. are great picks for investors. Canadian energy company Enbridge (ENB 0.57%) stands out as one of the best.
An impressive dividend track record
Enbridge offers a forward dividend yield of 6.3% as I write this. Such a juicy yield is the norm for the stock. Its dividend yield has rarely dipped below 6% over the last five years.
This strong dividend has helped Enbridge deliver market-beating total returns. Since 2005, the stock’s annual total shareholder return with dividends reinvested has averaged 12.3%. That’s higher than the average total return of 10.4% generated by the S&P 500. It also tops the average of 11.7% during the period for midstream energy stocks as a group.
Even more impressively, Enbridge has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. The company’s most recent dividend hike of 3% was announced in December 2024 and paid on March 1, 2025.
Enbridge has returned $35 billion to shareholders over the last five years. Its dividend payout rose by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 4% since 2020.
Extending the streak
Can Enbridge continue its remarkable streak of dividend increases? I think so. So does the company’s management team.
Enbridge’s balance sheet shouldn’t be problematic. The energy leader remains committed to maintaining debt of between 4.5 and 5 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). It also intends to keep its dividend payout at between 60% and 70% of distributable cash flow.
And that distributable cash flow should increase. Enbridge sees “visible growth through the end of the decade.” Management is targeting roughly $50 billion of growth opportunities by 2030. Nearly half of these growth opportunities are in the company’s gas transmission business. Enbridge should have significant growth potential on the U.S. Gulf Coast and with growing demand for power driven largely by data centers.
Enbridge’s growth shouldn’t fizzle out in the next decade, either. North American natural gas demand is projected to increase by 14% by 2040, with global energy demand rising by 8%. The conversion of coal-powered plants to natural gas and exports to Mexico should be key drivers behind this growth.
Thanks to these opportunities, Enbridge expects to increase its distributable cash flow per share by a CAGR of 3% through 2026 and by 5% afterward. As a result, the company thinks it will be able to increase its dividend by up to 3% through 2026 and by up to 5% beyond 2026.
What about tariffs?
But could President Donald Trump’s tariffs be a fly in the ointment for Enbridge? Last month, Trump declared that he would impose a 10% tariff on all energy imported from Canada and a 25% tariff on other products imported from the country.
Enbridge’s shares have pulled back with the uncertainty created by the Trump administration’s trade policies. However, I think the impact on the stock will only be temporary. I also don’t anticipate any significant impact on Enbridge’s ability to pay its dividend.
The reality is that the U.S. still needs Canadian oil and gas. Enbridge ranks as the biggest operator of pipelines that transport these fuels from Canada to the U.S. It’s also now more diversified than in the past with its acquisitions of several U.S.-based natural gas utility companies. I predict that Enbridge’s 30-year streak of dividend increases will continue for many years to come.
