The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that analysts are becoming more confident in Enbridge following its sale Wednesday of its Canadian natural-gas-gathering and processing business to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP for $4.3-billion. The Globe's David Berman writes that analysts, who were remarkably bullish on Enbridge in 2016 and 2017, slashed their target prices in half, to about $50 last month from $100 a year earlier. The four analysts who weighed in on Wednesday following the announcement of the Brookfield deal reaffirmed their buy recommendations on Enbridge. This is against a backdrop of rising bond yields, which weighed on the valuations of many dividend-paying stocks. "The implied sale multiple is at the high end of our expectations and further advances the company's strategy to simplify. Combined with last week's approval of Line 3, this should continue to drive improved valuation for Enbridge shares," said Ben Pham, an analyst at BMO Nesbitt Burns. Mr. Pham also reaffirmed his -- and Enbridge's -- expectation that the dividend payout should rise by 10 per cent a year. Enbridge closed Wednesday at $46.84, up 45 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange.