Dividend investing may look simple from the outside. Find a stock with a high yield, buy it, and collect the income.
In practice, it takes a little more work than that. A strong dividend usually depends on a business that could keep producing cash, investing for growth, and supporting its payout through different market conditions. That’s why the best dividend stocks often have much more to offer than income alone.
Enbridge (TSX: ENB) and Sun Life Financial (TSX: SLF) could be good examples. They operate in very different industries, but both have large businesses, steady cash generation, and plans to keep expanding.
In this article, I’ll highlight why Enbridge and Sun Life look like two slam-dunk dividend stocks to consider buying now.
Enbridge stock
The Calgary-based Enbridge transports and distributes energy through liquids pipelines, natural gas transmission, gas utilities, and renewable power assets. Enbridge stock currently trades at $66.58 per share with a market cap of $148.7 billion. It’s down about 4% over the last year, but that pullback has pushed its annualized dividend yield to an attractive 5.9%.
Recent weakness in ENB stock came while energy markets remained volatile, but Enbridge’s operating results remain resilient. In the second quarter, its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization) rose about 3% year-over-year (YoY) to $4.8 billion.
During the quarter, its cash from operating activities jumped about 27% to $4.1 billion, while distributable cash flow edged nearly 2% higher to $2.9 billion. More importantly, Enbridge reaffirmed its 2026 guidance and ended the quarter with a $41 billion secured growth backlog.
This Canadian energy infrastructure giant has also begun construction on the US$1 billion Line 5 Relocation project and sanctioned the Bay Runner Twin pipeline.
With $10 billion to $11 billion of annual growth investment capacity and a quarterly dividend of $0.97 per share, Enbridge offers a compelling mix of income and long-term growth. That makes it an attractive dividend stock to own right now.
Sun Life stock
The second slam-dunk dividend stock, Sun Life, provides insurance, health, wealth, and asset-management solutions across several international markets. Following a 37% rally in the last year, SLF stock trades at $112.68 per share with a $62.9 billion market cap and a 3.4% dividend yield.
Impressive business momentum could be one of the key reasons driving its stock price higher of late. In the June quarter, Sun Life’s underlying net profit rose 11% YoY to $1.1 billion, while its underlying earnings climbed 13% to $2.02 per share. Favourable public-equity market impacts, improved market-related and real-estate experience, and higher underlying earnings boosted its results. During the quarter, Sun Life’s assets under management also jumped 10% to nearly $1.7 trillion.
Beyond those results, Sun Life recently announced plans to seek $5 billion of Canadian infrastructure investments over five years. That includes $1.5 billion for infrastructure equity, subject to changes to the Insurance Companies Act.
Combined with strong growth across Canada, the U.S., and Asia, these investments could add another long-term growth avenue. For investors seeking dividend income with long-term growth potential, Sun Life looks like a strong dividend stock to consider now.