Key Takeaways
- Verizon yields 6.1% and Enbridge yields 5.7%, after Verizon’s stock fell on SpaceX’s push into wireless in October.
- Verizon’s dividend takes 52% of its free cash flow, and Enbridge’s distributable cash flow covers its dividend 1.5x.
- Enbridge has raised its dividend 31 years in a row and grown it faster, but it carries nearly twice Verizon’s net debt relative to EBITDA.
- At each company’s five-year dividend growth rate, Enbridge’s income on a $10,000 stake would pass Verizon’s around 2032.
Verizon (VZ) had a rough October. The stock fell nearly 9% on Oct. 9 after SpaceX agreed to buy a nationwide block of low-band spectrum for Starlink Mobile.
That leaves Verizon yielding 6.1%, a bit more than Enbridge (ENB) at 5.7%. On Sept. 9, Enbridge agreed to buy Tallgrass Energy’s crude oil business for US$2.55 billion, and it sold C$2.6 billion of new shares to help pay for its deals.
So which is the better dividend stock? Here’s how the two compare:
| Metric | Verizon (VZ) | Enbridge (ENB) |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | 6.1% | 5.7% |
| Dividend growth, fiscal 2020-2025 | 1.9% a year | 3.1% a year (C$) |
| Coverage, last reported | Cash dividend payout ratio: 52% (TTM to Sept. 30, 2026) | Distributable cash flow coverage: 1.51x (fiscal 2025) |
| Coverage, forward | Cash dividend payout ratio: 53% (fiscal 2026 consensus) | Distributable cash flow coverage: 1.49x (fiscal 2026 consensus) |
| Net debt/EBITDA (LTM) | 3.28x | 6.3x |
| Interest coverage (LTM) | 4.27x | 2.27x |
Source: TIKR and StockAnalysis, as of Nov. 5, 2026.
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Verizon’s dividend has room to spare
Verizon’s business is picking up. In the third quarter of 2026, it added 406,000 postpaid phone customers, and mobility and broadband service revenue rose 2.9% from a year earlier to $23.5 billion. Free cash flow rose 12.1% to $7.8 billion.
That cash covers the dividend comfortably. Over the 12 months to Sept. 30, 2026, Verizon paid $11.72 billion in dividends out of $22.38 billion of free cash flow. That’s a well-covered 52%, and analysts expect 53% for fiscal 2026.
Free cash flow has topped the dividend every year since fiscal 2018:
The raises are the weak spot. Management said on Verizon’s third-quarter call that it remains “committed to growing the dividend.” But it grew just 1.9% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025, from $2.48 to $2.73 a share.
SpaceX is the risk to watch. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said on its Oct. 20 call that Starlink Mobile is targeting service on its own airwaves in early 2028.
Enbridge grows its check faster
Enbridge has raised its dividend more, and for longer. On Dec. 3, 2025, it declared its 31st consecutive annual increase, a 3% raise to C$0.97 a quarter. Its dividend grew 3.1% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025, from C$3.24 to C$3.77 a share.
Enbridge sets its dividend in Canadian dollars, so the US-dollar amount moves with the exchange rate, and C$3.88 a year comes to about $2.81 today. Canada also withholds tax on dividends paid to US holders.
As a pipeline, Enbridge is judged on distributable cash flow coverage, which leaves out the growth projects it chooses to build. Coverage was 1.51x in fiscal 2025 (C$5.71 a share against C$3.77), and analysts expect 1.49x for fiscal 2026.
Distributable cash flow per share has risen every year since fiscal 2017, keeping coverage between 1.44x and 1.65x:
More growth is lined up. “We will continue to add visibility to, and extend, our 5% growth outlook further into the future,” CEO Greg Ebel said in Enbridge’s second-quarter release. That outlook is the roughly 5% a year Enbridge expects in distributable cash flow per share after 2026, backed by a secured backlog of about C$41 billion.
The risk is the balance sheet. EBIT covers interest just 2.27x. Enbridge’s own debt-to-EBITDA measure was 5.1x at the end of June, and the company expects to finish 2026 within its 4.5x-5.0x target.
So which dividend wins?
Verizon is the better dividend stock. It pays the bigger check, uses barely half its free cash flow to do it, and carries about half of Enbridge’s leverage.
Buyers aren’t paying up for it, either. Verizon trades at 8.7x forward earnings, in line with its five-year average of 8.8x and well below the 10.5x it reached in March:
To me, that price already reflects SpaceX’s push into wireless.
Enbridge’s dividend is still a solid one: well covered, raised for 31 straight years, with about 5% annual growth ahead. Its faster raises do close the gap, but at each company’s five-year pace, Enbridge’s income on $10,000 wouldn’t pass Verizon’s until around 2032. Until then, I’d rather collect the bigger check from the stronger balance sheet.
Of course, SpaceX’s spectrum deal still needs FCC approval. Once Starlink Mobile launches, Verizon’s subscriber numbers will show how much of that 6.1% yield was a bargain.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
