This week, I'm looking for the fifth industrials representative of eight for my Ivy portfolio. That industrials sector includes twenty-three industries all related to designing, fabricating and servicing stuff we want and use. The industrials industries range from aerospace and defense to waste management with all the transportation, business services, and equipment required in between.

Today I'm reviewing a small-cap business services company named The Hackett Group Inc. Its trading ticker is HCKT.

The Hackett Group Inc is a United States based strategic and technology advisory firm. The company was formerly known as Answerthink, Inc. and changed its name to The Hackett Group, Inc. in 2008. The Hackett Group, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida. The company's offerings include executive advisory programs, benchmarking, business transformation, and technology advisory services.

• The company's executive and practices advisory programs offer performance metrics, peer-learning opportunities, and practice implementation processes.
• The benchmarking services help organizations measure and assess internal efficiency and effectiveness.
• The business transformation programs help customers develop strategies to improve performance.
• The company's technology advisory services help clients improve decision-making capabilities and deploy software applications.

The Hackett Group generates the majority of its revenue in the United States.

I use three key data points to gauge the value of any dividend equity like The Hackett Group:

(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.

HCKT Price

Hackett's price per share closed at $15.80 yesterday. A year ago its price was $16.14. Price fell $0.34 or about 2.1% in the past year.

Assuming Hackett's stock trades in the range of $14.00 to $22.00 this year, Hackett's recent $15.80 price could rise by $3.20 and go to $19.00 by early-June, 2020.

HCKT Dividends

Hackett's most recent semi-annual dividend was $0.18 declared May 7th and payable July 10th.

That $0.18 SA payout produces an annual amount of $0.36 yielding 2.28% based on yesterday's $15.80 closing price.

Gains For HCKT?

Adding the $0.36 annual estimated dividend to my $3.20 estimate of Hackett's price upside shows a $3.56 potential gross annual gain, per share, which will be reduced by costs to trade those shares.

Say we pay a little under $1,000.00 today at the $15.80 recent stock price would buy us 63 HCKT shares.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale will cost us $0.16 per share.

Subtract that $0.16 brokerage cost from the estimated $3.56 gross annual gain leaves a net gain of $3.40 X 63 shares = $214.20 or a 21.45% net gain on a $995.40 investment.

Therefore, HCKT now shows a possible net gain of 21.45% including a 2.28% dividend yield.

Four brokers track The Hackett Group Inc (HCKT) stock:

• One says "buy" HCKT.
• Two say HCKT will "outperform" peers.
• One says "hold" HCKT shares.

The consensus score is 2.0 or "outperform".

Therefore, you can look at The Hackett Group and see it has made money, is making money, and could net a 21.45% gain including a 2.28% 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 The Hackett Group Inc (HCKT) is worth your time and money.