Looking for buys in a market near an all-time high can be challenging. But there are plenty of opportunities if you know where to look. One candidate is a little-known company from Seattle by the name of Amazon.com (AMZN 0.75%). The other is dividend stock called Enbridge (ENB 0.39%) that delivers stable free cash flow (FCF) and has a staggering 8.4% dividend yield. Both stocks have underperformed the market over the past three months.
Amazon is a great option for growth investors, and Enbridge is a reliable income stock. But the real beauty is how Amazon's growth prospects and massive spending complement Enbridge's stable and stodgy FCF generation and dividend distribution. Here's why each company is a great buy now.
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1. Amazon
It rarely happens, but Amazon stock has indeed gone on sale. Shares of the e-commerce and cloud computing service management company are down over 5% in the past three months compared to the market's nearly 5% gain.
The sale is just a blip over a period of otherwise astronomical gains. And Amazon's $1.55 trillion valuation could dissuade some investors from buying now if they think the growth is only going to slow. Although expensive, the company's long-term thesis remains intact. Amazon's recent earnings breezed past expectations as the company grew revenue and profits.
AMZN Revenue (Quarterly) data by YCharts
Amazon is now earning record net income, despite spending more and more money as it continues to invest in everything from content creation for Amazon Prime members to data centers for Amazon Web Services, and more. But Amazon is a different company than it was three years ago. It has proved that it can earn more profit without compromising its growth potential. This incredible balance, along with the fact that Amazon is the undisputed e-commerce leader and rivals Microsoft Azure in cloud computing services, is a great reason to pick up shares of Amazon right now.
If you don't have $3,100 lying around to buy a share of Amazon, you are not alone. There are plenty of brokers that now offer what are called fractional shares. TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers, Fidelity, and Robinhood all offer ways to buy a fraction of a share of high nominally priced stocks like Amazon. With Fidelity, for example, a user could invest $100 into amazon and buy 1/31 of a share.
2. Enbridge
Let's switch gears completely from Amazon to a lesser-known company. Enbridge is one of North America's largest oil and natural gas pipeline giants. Unlike Amazon, Enbridge is a dividend stock that yields an impressive 8.4%. Its shares have also underperformed the market and are down 26% for the year.
Unlike other risky oil stocks, Enbridge has produced steady revenue and earnings throughout the volatility of 2020. Although this may come across as surprising, it's actually a rather common characteristic of pipeline companies. Acting as the equivalent of a toll, Enbridge contracts a lot of its transportation and storage services over the long term, meaning it can generate predictable FCF in times of good and bad. 2020 is a great example of this.
Comparing the first nine months of 2020 to the same period last year, Enbridge produced 8.8% less in earnings per share (EPS) and generated slightly more distributable cash flow (DCF). Pipeline companies often quote DCF as the portion of cash flow that is eligible for payment to shareholders, although a sizable portion is retained by the company. In Enbridge's case, its DCF for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2020 was significantly more than the dividends paid during that time. The company believes it can sustainably grow its dividend while only paying out 60% to 70% of DCF. Put another way, Enbridge is a cash cow that can support its dividend with cash, not debt, an increasingly rare feat only accomplished by top energy stocks.
Like other oil and gas companies, one of the long-term headwinds facing Enbridge is a gradual decline in oil and natural gas consumption. If proven true, this would naturally devalue Enbridge's existing infrastructure assets. It's a risk to be taken seriously, but given the company's reduced price, strong performance, and cash cushion, Enbridge looks to be a great dividend stock to buy now.
Opposites attract
Amazon and Enbridge have virtually nothing in common, but each could serve a purpose in your portfolio. Investors who want access to more growth could go with Amazon. And investors who want to generate income could go with Enbridge. If you're just starting out, adding both names could be a good decision too. And whether you're investing $100 or $1,000, many brokers will let you buy fractional shares so you can participate in previously inaccessible stocks like Amazon.
