Can Enbridge Maintain Its Consistent Capital Returns to Shareholders?
Enbridge Inc. ENB is a leading midstream player with a resilient business model. The company operates a vast network of natural gas and liquids pipelines, storage facilities, gas distribution systems and renewable power assets (wind and solar). By utilizing its diversified asset portfolio, the company generates revenues by transporting crude oil, natural gas and NGLs under long-term contracts. Business resilience is reflected in the company achieving its financial guidance for 20 consecutive years.
The midstream player’s fee-based agreements generate stable and predictable cash flows, enough to return capital to its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Investors should note that Enbridge has increased its dividend consistently for 31 consecutive years. To support future cash returns, ENB holds a robust $39 billion backlog. The company expects to bring $8 billion worth of projects online by 2026 to generate additional cash flow and meet rising demand for its assets due to the rapid expansion of data centers and industrial hubs.
In 2025 alone, the company sanctioned $14 billion of projects. Enbridge is likely to approve an additional $10 billion to $20 billion in projects over the next two years. These initiatives are expected to enhance future earnings and business stability and support sustainable shareholder returns.
Are MPLX & EPD Focused on Returning Capital to Unitholders?
Other midstream players, such as MPLX LP MPLX and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. EPD, generate stable, fee-based revenues similar to Enbridge. Due to their resilient business models, both partnerships are focused on returning capital to its unitholders. MPLX returned $4.4 billion of capital in 2025, which included $400 million in unit repurchases. EPD has returned approximately $62 billion to equity investors since its initial public offering.
ENB’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
ENB shares have gained 17% over the past year compared with the 20.9% improvement registered by the composite stocks belonging to the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, ENB trades at a trailing 12-month enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) of 16.68X, above the broader industry average of 15.2X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ENB's first-quarter of 2026 and second-quarter of 2026 earnings have remained unchanged over the past seven days. Meanwhile, estimates for the full-year 2026 earnings have seen downward revisions.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Enbridgecurrently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains
Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.
While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.
Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.
Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.
See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
