A portfolio of stocks I've been building since September 3 is named Volio Folio. It 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 second of five communication services sector stocks striving to be picked to join my Volio folio. This could be the fourteenth pick for Volio!

Now the communications services sector includes seven industries all related to delivering messages to and from us. Communication services industries are: advertising agencies; broadcasting; electronic gaming and multimedia; entertainment; internet content and information; publishing; telecom services.

My subject today is a small-cap publishing company named, Meredith Corp. Their trading ticker symbol is MDP. This is my first report on MDP.

Meredith Corp is an American media company that focuses on publications and marketing services around the home, family, food, and lifestyle markets.

The company operates two divisions: national media and local media. The national media segment publishes magazines such as Every Day with Rachael Ray, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Fun, and Parents; this segment is the source of the majority of Meredith's revenue.

The local media segment owns over 15 television stations around the United States. In 2014, the company announced a 10-year licensing agreement with Martha Stewart Omnimedia to acquire the rights to Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings, and marthastewart.com.

The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa.

I use three key data points to gauge dividend-paying equities or funds like Meredith Corp:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Besides those three, several other keys will finally unlock an equity or fund in which to invest, or not.

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

MDP Price

Meredith's price per share closed at $34.53 yesterday. A year ago its price was $58.22. So, in the past year, its price fell  $23.67, or 44.5%.

Assuming Meredith's stock trades in a range of $30 to $45 this next year, it's recent $34.53 price could rise by $5.47 to reach $40.00 by early-December, 2020, assuming upward price momentum returns.

MDP Dividends

Meredith's latest declared quarterly dividend was $0.575, payable December 13th.

That $0.575 Q dividend equates to $2.30 annually and yields 6.66% based on yesterday's $34.53 closing price.

MDP Gains?

Adding the $2.30 annual estimated dividend to my $5.47 estimate of Meredith's price upside shows a $7.77 potential gross gain, per share, which will be reduced by any costs to trade these shares.

Say, for costs, we put a little over $1,000.00 today into Meredith Corp. at its recent $34.54 price, we'd buy 29 shares of MDP.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale could cost us about $0.34 per share.

Subtract that $0.34 brokerage cost from the estimated $7.77 gross estimated gain per share leaves a net gain of $7.43 X 29 shares = $215.47 or a 21.5% net gain on a $1,001.66 investment.

Therefore, Meredith Corp, whose trading ticker symbol is MDP shows a possible 21.5% net gain including a 6.66% 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 learn if Meredith Corp is worth your time and money.