Then and Now – Enbridge
For a few years now, I’ve highlighted some of the stocks and ETFs I own in my portfolio. I started a series on this site called Then and Now to highlight current holdings or my plans to change things up.
This was the first post in this series. Today’s post is an update, including if I continue to own Enbridge in my portfolio right now.
Read on: Then and Now – Enbridge.
Then – back in 2014 on this site
Back in 2014, I wrote the following as part of this original post:
I’m going to start a new series on my site entitled Then and Now where I revisit some older blogposts and either rip them to shreds (because my thinking has changed since then) or I’ll confirm my position on some personal finance subjects. I have no idea how often I’ll run these types of posts but I figure it would be something fun to try. It might be interesting to learn from my past so I can apply those lessons learned for the future.
I went on to write:
“My interest is in the future because I’m going to spend the rest of my life there.” – Charles Kettering, American Engineer, Inventor of the electric starter, Former head of research at GM.
Fun quote. 🙂
Today’s updated post is my look back on my investing journey owning Enbridge and how that stock fits into my portfolio today (or not at all)!
Then – back in 2008 to 2011
Backing up even further, Enbridge (ENB) was my first blue-chip Canadian dividend paying stock that I owned.
I purchased ENB at a time when I was starting to unload many of my high-priced mutual funds within my Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) in particular. These were the very early days of my DIY stock investing journey – before My Own Advisor was formally launched in 2009 and even before the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) existed.
I recall buying Enbridge, with a $500 purchase using their Transfer Agent (then CIBC Mellon Trust), in December 2008.
I continued buying Enbridge using the Transfer Agent, taking advantage of the full Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) throughout 2009 and into early 2010.
I stopped my full DRIP with the Transfer Agent before the end of 2010 and then in the months that followed, I transferred all existing Enbridge shares I owned at the time from that Transfer Agent to my discount brokerage taxable account.
I also purchased some ENB in my RRSP as well in 2010. I received a 2-for-1 stock split in May 2011 for all holdings.
Between 2011 to 2016
Since summer 2011, I was slowly adding to my ENB holdings here and there while ramping up purchases in other dividend paying stocks (i.e., Canadian banks stocks, utility stocks). During this time, I was also diversifying my holdings beyond Canadian stocks into low-cost indexed funds for extra diversification and growth. I was also selling some dividend ETFs I owned at the time like HDV and others. Little did I know, this approach would serve me well in the coming decade on my journey to semi-retirement…
From 2016 onwards
During 2016, I started buying even more low-cost indexed funds but I didn’t sell any ENB stock. The dividend raises from Enbridge kept coming in every year and with DRIPs running for this stock up until a few years ago, the number of ENB shares continued to grow thanks to those dividend reinvestment plans.
Enbridge Now 2025
I continue to own Enbridge stock at the time of this post in many accounts.
Enbridge currently makes up just under 5% of our total personal portfolio value.
I have no intention of selling any Enbridge stock.
I expect both growing dividend income (i.e., this is a bond-proxy for me) with some slight long-term price growth from Enbridge over time. This will complement the income and growth of other stocks and ETFs we own for semi-retirement funding.
Source: Enbridge > Investors.
We’ll see what the future holds!
Over the coming year or so, as I share more about our portfolio including how that is structured for semi-retirement income and growth, I’ll update some other previous posts in this series.
I look forward to your comments including if you own Enbridge stock yourself, and why or why not.
Mark
HI,Mark ; would like to ask if it is appropriate to buy some XAW in a taxable account?Thank you very much and wish you a happy new year
I don’t mind XAW in taxable, Min, but the challenge is withholding taxes but they are recoverable.
I break down the cost of owning XAW or related Canadian ETFs that own U.S. stocks or ETFs here:
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/etfs/
Let me know your thoughts!
Mark
In our energy sector we only own five pipelines including ENB.
We started buying ENB in 2004. Best purchase I can remember was in Nov 2020 when the dividend yield hit 9% and most other investors seemed to be running away from this stock. So with my contrarian nature, I couldn’t resist a buy.for the long term.
All I have to do is re-invest the dividends from ENB and other sources into other lagging Canadian dividend companies in our portfolio to get even more cash from dividends. Super easy.
The compounding part is all there in that book first published a century ago, “The Richest Man In Babylon”.
Gotcha, so like Don and a few other commenters, I guess you own KEY too?
We just own ENB, SOBO and PPL.
Yes, gotta love compouding. Are you buying more pipeline stocks over time or just letting existing ones run?
Mark
Yes Mark, we own KEY too. No plans to add to the pipelines any time soon. Last addition of dividend cash to a pipeline was TRP in the spring of 2023, when things seemed to be looking bleak for that company. Now it’s all sunshine. Right now, our allocation to pipelines in the non-registered portfolio has grown to 16%, and for us, that’s more than enough.
Ya, good stuff. I think all CDN energy, including pipes for me, is about 15%-20% of our portfolio.
XIU, my proxy for CDN stocks, to skim from, has about 17% energy I recall so that’s inline.
Not actively adding to energy right now, keeping it in that range.
I’ll share more Then and Now posts over the coming year so we can compare notes. 🙂
Mark
I also own Enbridge as well as other companies that provide our utilities.
I have purchased years ago the 5-6 books of Derek Foster Idiot Millionaire, and one of his tips is to buy such stocks.
They offer 2 benefits:
1) The dividends you earn help to pay the bills of those service providers.
2) If the bills increase, so will the dividends 🙂
Yes, the ol’ mantra of being an owner of what you consume. Makes sense to a point but there are many stocks you would never consume services from that could be winners long-term.
That said, I like ENB for a bond-proxy in my portfolio, with some slight upside and always have.
Cheers!
Your timing on this post couldnt be better.. I was just and I mean literally just reviewing an analysis of the impact the potential Trump tariffs would have on ENB and SOBO. It’s behind a paywall however the summary is that it would be devasting for the share price however it would also be terrible for Americans. The price of gas would increase, not to mention that they have refineries configured specifically to refine our heavy crude. It seems unlikely, however Trump is anything but predictable and when taken together, CNQ, ENB and TRP account for a very large portion of my portfolio. Not to mention the preferred ENB stock I also own.
What are your thoughts on whether the tariffs will occur or not and how that impacts your decision to continue holding ENB?
I think, eventually, these tarrif issues will get resolved but we’ll see in time of course.
I don’t own any preferreds at all but like other DIY investors I do own some CNQ, ENB, TRP and other energy names in Canada.
I think very long-term i.e., if tarrifs stay in place for a few years, then things are not so good but I think tarrifs have another motive; NAFTA, other.
We’ll see how things all plays out. I have no idea!!
Mark
I concur, the tarrifs will be relatively short-term in terms of my investment time horizon. If they are applied to energy exports it could make for a good buy more ENB opportunity.
I also own those stocks. The dividends earn help pay gas bills (natural & car)
The post was my reply to RB’s owning CNQ, WNB & TRP.
I own Enbridge in my non registered and TFSA accounts. I started investing in the stock when I decided to sell XIU and buy those stocks it holds that I was interested in – no oil and gas companies as they were too volatile for me. The shares were dripped in my non registered account until I retired. The ones in my TFSA are still dripping nicely. For me, it is a buy and hold stock.
Thanks, Jan. I see it the same way. I continue to own some ENB and unless I totally go the ETF route, I probably will for some time to come.
I’m sitting on some decent capital gains inside my taxable now with it. A good problem to have.
Mark
I own Enbridge under the principle of owning shares in companies I engage with in my life; I have no choice in natural gas vendor for my home so they have a captive set of customers that is still growing. I also purchase preferred shares occasionally with 5.5%+ dividend payments but they tend to be recalled for the $25 price so you have to be careful which issue you purchase and for how much since they are thinly traded. I’m a little worried about climate change regulations affecting Enbridge but you can purchase 98% efficient furnaces these days so natural gas is being used as well as it can be. I own shares in my RRIF, TFSA, and non-reg; it’s a keeper for now 🙂
Good stuff, thanks Zack.
Ya, I only own the common shares vs. preferreds. I find with preferreds you get “capped” on the upside/price growth usually.
I will see how ENB contributes to my/our portfolio value over time or not! 🙂
Mark
Interestingly, the whole preferred thing is what finally caused me to leave my “advisor” and go on my own! In a nutshell, my advisor pushed a whole bunch of preferreds onto me and convinced me that it was the way to go. Unfortunately, as I delved into things deeper (and as the price of the preferreds plunged), I realized that I had totally misconstrued his explanation on how preferreds worked – otherwise, I never would have got into them! Then to make matters worse, he told me that he wanted to move from a fee-per-transaction to a percentage based approach (I guess he wasn’t making enough money from my buy-and-hold strategy). At that point, I said see ya later and haven’t looked back since! And my rate of return compared to what he was getting me – not even close – I blew him out of the water – easily! Anyway, the one preferred I do have left is ENB.PR.Y – and the effective dividend yield is currently just under 7% so I continue to hold it as my “capital loss” has more than been surpassed with the nice dividend stream. Lesson more than learned on how to always understand exactly what you’re investing in. Cheers!
Great lesson learned, MikeyP!
I don’t mind preferreds, I understand the merits of them but I persronally don’t like the fact their upside/growth potential is largely capped unlike common stocks. That’s just me and a risk-based decision.
All good, lots of ways to invest!
Mark
I started with Enbridge a little before you Mark. In 1992 I bought six hundred shares and in 1994 I liked it so much that I bought another six hundred at a price of $27.875 in 1999 they said they would split the shares so I bought one hundred which gave me 1300 shares. After the split I had 2600 shares. In 2005 they said they would spit the shares again. Also that year my dad past away. I said to my brother that you have all kinds of money and so do I so why don’t we just split the shares which he thought was a good idea. Dad had 2200 hundred shares so when they split the shares I had now 5200. I new I was going to get another 2200 so I bought six hundred more. Now I have 5800 and when the estate came due I received the 2200 bringing me to 8000 shares. I thought 10000 would be a nice round number so I bought 2000 more. As you mention in 2011 they split the shares again so now I have 20000. In 2016 they merged with Spectra Energy and decided to take some funds and partnerships private. I received 551 for my 750 of Enbridge Income Fund. At the start of the pandemic I bought 449 to give me now 21000 shares. It’s a great company but takes up 24%/25% of my portfolio so it makes it hard to buy more. i FIND DRIPing confusing as if and when you sell a stock you have to keep track of when these dribs and drabs where purchased
Ronald, hard to know what to say 🙂
21,000 shares of ENB??
Wow.
So, if I do the math, you earn about $18k in ENB dividends, every quarter??
I’m just over 1,000 shares here so I have some room to catch up to you!! That said, ENB makes up about 3% of my portfolio. I get paid enough ENB shares to cover my entire condo utility bills now every year. Ha. I like being an owner of what I and millions of Canadians consume.
Yes, having the DRIPs turned on is a mess to calculate but not an issue as you know inside TFSA, RRSP, etc.
Awesome. I love reading this stuff and motivation for me to keep going as I pursue some semi-retirement dreams.
How does one initiate a transfer from a drip to one’s own brokerage?
Check out post #5 Sabrina and let me know if you have further questions.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/drips/
Cheers.
ohoh mark. how will the supreme court decision affect enb. i have quite a bit of cash in enf. hopefully they have some cracker jack negotiators!
Things will work out Gary…just another bump in the long road of owning these types of stocks!
Reads much like my plans with TD when I bought it at $28 about 10 years ago, don’t plan on selling it although I am 100% DRiP on it as well (inside RRSPs right now). Starting to think about maybe doing this outside of a registered account, but we shall see.
I keep U.S. stocks and ETFs, for the most part, in my RRSP so all the CDN content is in other accounts. TD is an excellent stock, great call.
In regards to Enbridge, how do you think Enbridge(ENB) and Enbridge Income Fund Holdings (ENF) compare? Both equities have performed well over the past 5 years, and ENF dividend yield is currently 2.2% higher and conveniently pays out monthly.
Interested on your thoughts on them 🙂
I like ENB more largely because the dividend history is more established but ENF seems to be good as well. Hard to argue with the recent dividend history of ENF, it has been rising every year since 2004. I suppose if you are in need of/are looking for dividend income and already have ample diversification, ENF is a good play. I have considered ENF in the past and may consider it again for my wife’s TFSA next year depending upon the price.
I hope the Northern Gateway pans out for enbridge. So much resistance! But energy sector looks rosy in the future. Thanks for your stock flashback!
For sure, re: energy sector has growth in the future. Not a good news story overall for the environment…I don’t see energy demands curbing for a few more generations.
Looking forward to the series as well Mark. Hindsight is 20/20, and what’s important is that we learn from our mistakes from the past and not get too overconfident on past success.
Thanks for saying that Brian. Just wait until I post my article about TransAlta 🙂
I like the new series, MOA. Do you own the ENB shares in a tax-sheltered account? I am DRIPping BNS which I started in the end of 2013. Once I get a good amount of money into it, I am thinking of transferring it to a TFSA account. There is some writeup on dripprimer.ca but would appreciate if you have any more resources and points on the transfer process.
regards
R2R
No, ENB is in a taxable account and the gains will need to be offset at some point.
Roadmap2Retire, did you check out this post?
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/closing-your-drips-and-spps-transferring-your-shares-to-your-brokerage/
Let me know what you think I’m missing in that post and I’ll update it or email you some guidance.
Mark
ENB was also one of my first, dividend focused purchases and it certainly has been a winner as you point out. It’s steady performance and dividend growth make it a strong, buy and hold purchase, especially when you got it when we did.
What would make your series more interesting, would be to take your analysis one step further. You basically gave yourself a ‘thumbs-up’ on the purchase, but what would be interesting would be how you look at it today. Is it worthy of further investments?, do you continue to synthetically DRIP the stock. Off the top of my head, ENB dividend rate was nearly 4% when I first purchased it, today, with capital appreciation it’s less than 3%. What has been the dividend growth rate since purchase? What are prospects looking forward?
This view would add meat to the ‘Then and Now’ concept.
You made some good points gmf.
I look at ENB as a buy but not really at these prices, although it will likely continue to go up. I’ve recently turned off the DRIP for ENB since the price is high and will take the cash instead. I hope to build up some money for a stock market correction.
I think ENB remains an excellent buy and hold for my portfolio. The dividend growth rate has been about 13% per year over the past 10 years.
ENB…Interesting about shutting off the dripp, think I might do that too
Got a few thousand shares. Been thinking same, but u motivated my same move.
ENB…Interesting about shutting off the dripp, think I might do that too
Got a few thousand shares. Been thinking same, but u motivated my same
Hey I just, noticed the year dates of these comments…… guess I was asleep at the wheel
Ha. Older post. I will update these yet again in a few years as things change or evolve or I just buy much more.
Been an owner of ENB for over 12 years now. DRIPping lots of shares inside registered accounts.