This week, I'm looking for the fifth materials representative of nine for my Ivy portfolio.

The materials sector includes thirteen industries all tied to the mining or manufacturing of basic stuff we need. Commodities: such as agricultural inputs, aluminum; building materials, chemicals, coal, copper, gold, industrial metals, lumber & wood, paper, silver, specialty chemicals, and steel.

Today I'm reviewing a large-cap chemical company named Air Products & Chemicals Inc. Its trading ticker symbol is APD.

Since its founding in 1940, Air Products has become one of the leading industrial gas suppliers globally, with operations in 50 countries and 19,000 employees. The company is the largest supplier of hydrogen and helium in the world. It has a unique portfolio serving customers in a number of industries, including chemicals, energy, healthcare, metals, and electronics. Air Products generated $8.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2018.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I use three key data points to gauge the value of any dividend equity-like Air Products & Chemicals Inc:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Besides those three, several other keys will finally unlock an equity or fund in which to invest.

Those first three primary keys, however, best tell whether a company has made, is making, and will make money.

APD Price

APD's price per share closed at $205.99 yesterday. A year ago its price was $163.45. Price rose $42.54 or 26% in the past year.

Assuming APD's stock trades in the range of $160.00 to $220.00 this year,

APD's recent $205.99 price could rise by $4.01 and go to $210.00 by early May 2020.

APD Dividends

APD's most recent declared quarterly dividend was $1.16 declared January 24th and payable, next Monday, May 13th.

a $1.16 Q dividend equates to an annual payout of $4.64 for a yield of 2.25% at yesterday's $205.99 closing price.

Gains For APD?

Adding a $4.64 annual estimated dividend to my $4.01 estimate of

APD's price upside shows an $8.65 potential gross annual gain, per share, which will be reduced by costs to trade those shares.

Say we pay a little over $1,000.00 today at the $205.97 recent stock price would buy us 5 Air Products & Chemicals Inc shares.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale will cost us $2.00 per share.

Subtract that $2.00 brokerage cost from the estimated $8.65 gross annual gain leaves a net gain of $6.65 X 5 shares

= $33.25 or a 3.25% net gain on a $1,029.95 investment.

Therefore, Air Products & Chemicals Inc whose trading ticker symbol is APD now shows a possible net gain of  3.25% including a 2.25% dividend yield.

Twenty-two brokers cover this stock:

Twelve say "buy" APD.

Six say APD will "outperform" its peers.

Four say "hold" APD.

The consensus score is 1.636 or "outperform".

Therefore, you can look at Air Products & Chemicals Inc and see it has made money, is making money, and could net 3.25% gains including a 2.25% dividend yield. It could be more, it could be less.

The above speculation is based on past year performance. The actual results remain to be seen to determine if Air Products & Chemicals Inc is worth your time and money.