I'm now looking for a third consumer defensive sector representative for my new Ivy portfolio.

That defensive sector includes thirteen industries all related to providing convenient packaged goods we've just gotta have. Industries like: beverages, brewed, soft, or distilled; confections; discount stores; education & training; farm products; food distribution; grocery stores; household & personal products; packaged goods; pharmaceutical retailers; tobacco.

Today I'm reviewing a small-cap household & personal products maker, named Oil-Dri Corp of America. It's trading ticker symbol is ODC .

Oil-Dri Corp of America develops, manufactures, and markets sorbent products made primarily from clay. Its absorbent offerings, which draw liquid up, include cat litter, floor products, toxin control substances for livestock, and agricultural chemical carriers.

The company has two segments based on the different characteristics of two primary customer groups namely Retail and Wholesale Products Group and Business to Business Products Group.

The company generates maximum revenue from Business to Business Products segments. The company's products are sold under various brands such as Cat's Pride, Jonny Cat, Amlan, Agsorb, Verge, Pure-Flo, and Ultra-Clear.

Its customers include mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, drugstore chains, pet specialty retail outlets, dollar stores, retail grocery stores, distributors of industrial cleanup and automotive products, environmental service companies, and sports field product users; processors and refiners of edible oils, petroleum-based oils, and biodiesel fuel; manufacturers of animal feed and agricultural chemicals; distributors of animal health and nutrition products; and marketers of consumer products.

Oil-Dri Corporation of America was founded in 1941 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

I use three key data points to gauge the value of any dividend equity like Oil-Dri Corporation of America:

(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.

ODC Price

Oil-Dri's price per share closed at $25.51 Friday. A year ago its price was $32.28. So price slumped  $6.77 per share last year, or nearly 21%.

Assuming Oil-Dri's stock trades in the range of $20 to $40 next year, Oil-Dri's recent $25.51 price could pick up by $1.49 and go to $27.00 by late-January, 2020.

ODC Dividends

Oil-Dri's most recent Quarterly dividend was $0.24 payable March 1st.

That $0.24 quarterly payout equates to a  $0.96 annual payout and a yield of 3.76% at yesterday's $25.51 closing price.

Gains For ODC?

Adding the $0.96 annual estimated dividend to my $1.40 Oil-Dri Corporation of America estimated price upside shows a $2.36 potential gross annual gain, per share, which will be reduced by costs to trade those shares.

Say we put a little under $1,000.00 today at the $25.51 recent stock price would buy us 39 Oil-Dri Corporation of America shares.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale costs $0.26 per share.

Subtract that $0.26 brokerage cost from the estimated $2.36 gross annual gain leaves a net gain of $2.10 X 39 shares

= $81.90

for 8.2% net gain on a $994.89 investment.

Therefore, Oil-Dri Corporation of America whose trading ticker symbol is ODC, now shows a possible net gain of 8.2% including its estimated 3.76% dividend yield.

No brokers cover this stock:

So I get no argument form that quarter!

Therefore, you can look at Oil-Dri Corporation of America and see it has made money, is making money, and could make 8.2% over the next year including its 3.76% estimated 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 Oil-Dri Corporation of America is worth your time and money.