Enbridge’s Payout Ratio Hits 148% Even as the Dividend Streak Holds at 31 Years. Here’s Where Shares Could Go in 2026.

CFO Pat Murray told analysts that growing the dividend remains central to Enbridge's strategy, citing $38 billion returned to shareholders over the past five years against a target of $40 billion to $45 billion over the next five.

The dividend held at $0.97 per share through the second quarter of 2026, unchanged from the prior quarter, after CEO Greg Ebel pointed to 31 consecutive years of increases.

A payout ratio of 148.23% met a 5.79% yield in the most recent reading, a pairing that leaves little room for error against Enbridge stock's income case.

TIKR's mid case model puts Enbridge stock's target price at CA$188.95 by December 2030, a potential total return of 177.1% and an annualized rate of 26.8%.

Enbridge Stock's Dividend Math Doesn't Match Its Confidence

Enbridge posted second quarter 2026 results on July 31, and the call left little doubt about where capital is headed. CEO Greg Ebel called dividend growth "central to our strategy," and backed the claim with a number few pipeline operators can match: 31 consecutive years of dividend increases. CFO Pat Murray went further, quantifying the commitment. Over the past five years, Enbridge returned $38 billion to shareholders. Over the next five, management expects that figure to land between $40 billion and $45 billion.

That confidence sits against a balance sheet doing real work. Murray told the room Enbridge exited the quarter at 5.1x debt to EBITDA, above where the company wants to sit, though he attributed most of the overshoot to a weaker Canadian dollar during the quarter. Adjust for that currency swing, he said, and leverage falls back within Enbridge's target range. Adjusted EBITDA still climbed by more than $130 million compared to the same quarter last year, driven by higher spot volumes on the Seaway pipeline and stronger Mainline and Line 9 throughput.

Growth spending isn't pausing to fix any of this. Enbridge has already sanctioned $9 billion of its up to $20 billion 2026-2027 capital target, drawing from a $50 billion opportunity set that runs through 2030. Murray reaffirmed 2026 guidance set last December and said the company continues to equity self-fund that growth rather than lean harder on debt. Ebel closed by calling the backdrop "possibly the best environment for growth that we've had in recent memory," pointing to a $41 billion secured capital backlog as the runway behind it.

None of that changes what the payout ratio says right now. Enbridge is funding both an expanding capital program and a dividend it has raised for three decades straight, and management wants investors reading those two goals as compatible rather than competing.