A portfolio of stocks I've been building since September 3, 2019, named Volio, will eventually hold 52 dividend dogs. Volio is the fifth portfolio I've built (at a one dividend dog per-week pace) since 2014. Five portfolios = V for Volio!

Today I'm reviewing the fourth of five financial services sector stocks primed to join Volio as the ninth of nine representing the sector.  One of the stocks I discuss this week could become the fiftieth overall selection for Volio!

My subject today is a mid-cap property and casualty insurance company named, Mercury General Corp. Its trading ticker is MCY. This is my second report on Mercury General Corp for this portfolio. Last month I reported about them on July 16th.

Mercury General Corp is an insurance holding company operating in the property-casualty market, where it focuses on low-cost auto insurance for individuals, with operations in nearly 13 states.

However, most of its business--about 75% of premiums--comes from California, where it was established by George Joseph, the current company chairman and majority owner.

Its insurance is distributed exclusively through independent agents,100% owned insurance agents, and direct channels in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.

The company was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

I use three key data points to gauge dividend equities or funds like Mercury General Corp:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

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

MCY Price

Mercury's price per share closed at $45.55 yesterday.  A year ago their price was $54.18. Price fell $8.63 or nearly 16% last year.

Assuming Mercury's stock trades in the range of $30 to $54 this next year, its recent $45.55 price might rise by $4.45 to reach $50.00 by August 13, 2021.

MCY Dividends

Mercury's most recently declared quarterly dividend was $0.63, payable September 29th. That Q dividend equates to $2.52 annually and yields 5.53% at yesterday's $45.55 share price.

MCY Gains?

Adding the $2.52 annual estimated dividend to my $4.45 optimistic estimate of Mercury's price upside shows a $6.97 potential gross gain, per share, to be reduced by any costs to trade the shares.

If we put little over $1,000.00 today in Mercury General Corp at $45.55, we would buy 22 shares of stock.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale could cost us about $0.45 per share.