Boring is good when it comes to utility stocks. It implies steady revenues, rising dividends, and a minimum of surprises, asserts Gordon Pape, leading growth and income expert and editor of Internet Wealth Builder.
A recent headline on David Berman's column in The Globe and Mail was "A reason to celebrate: Enbridge is back to boring". That was written in reaction to the news that the company is selling off its natural gas gathering and processing business for $4.3 billion.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that Enbridge has regained that status just yet — the company still has a heavy debt load and there are some question marks about its business outlook. But CEO Al Monaco and his team are certainly making steps in the right direction.
For years until 2015, Enbridge used to be one of the most dependable stocks on the Toronto stock exchange. Since then, its credit rating was downgraded, the dividend outlook was scaled back, the funding of future projects became a concern, and there were worries of a massive new share issue that would dilute the stock.
In response, the company put together an action plan that involved selling non-core assets, reducing debt, and streamlining its complex corporate structure. Equally significant to investors was the fact insiders were actively buying the shares.
So far, the master plan has been executed promptly and efficiently. Enbridge announced that it is winding up all its subsidiary companies, making the corporate structure and financing more transparent. It sold off $3.2 billion in assets and hinted at more deals to come.
Enbridge recently announced that it is selling 19 natural gas processing plants and liquids handling facilities and 3,550 km of natural gas gathering pipelines. These are located in British Columbia and Alberta. The sale price is $4.31 billion and the buyer is a group headed by Brookfield Infrastructure Partnership (BIP).
The company received more good news with the announcement that its Line 3 replacement project was ratified by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. It also approved most of the company's preferred route.
Line 3 is a major part of Enbridge's development plan and rejection would have dealt a major blow to future growth. The company is aiming to have the replacement line in service by the second half of 2019.
The share price should continue to gradually move higher in the coming months. The yield has dropped which suggests investors are regaining confidence in the stock. Our recommended action now is to buy. The yield is still attractive and management is effectively carrying through with its plan.
