It's a fact of life when investing that stock market corrections and crashes happen. Since 1928, there have been 26 bear markets, or periods when the S&P 500 has tumbled 20% or more, but they've become rarer since 1945.
While the broad market index experienced a bear market about every 1.4 years on average until then, they have occurred only once every 5.4 years, on average, since then. The S&P 500 briefly dipped below the 20% threshold recently before rebounding somewhat, but today sits at just about bear market territory again at a 19% loss for the year.
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Soaring inflation and stubborn supply chain hiccups could cause it to drop sharply once more, and history shows stocks lose an average of 36% in a bear market. Yet the thing about such crashes is they're followed by bull markets. Yes, there have been 26 bear markets over the past 90 years or so, but there have been 27 bull markets, and the average gain realized was 114%. And where bear markets tend to last for 9.6 months, bull markets go on for 4.5 years on average.
That means the best time to shop for stocks is when things look bleakest. As Warren Buffett once noted: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful."
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Paint and coatings manufacturer PPG Industries (PPG -0.70%) has been around for over 135 years, meaning it's been through all kinds of markets and global economic events, including recessions, depressions, world wars, terrorist attacks, and several pandemics. Through it all, it has not only survived -- it's thrived.
Moreover, it has consistently paid investors a dividend every year since 1899 and hiked the payout for over 50 consecutive years, making it a Dividend King. Here are a few more reasons you might want to put this stock in your portfolio to help you see through to the other side of the next recession.
Everything is covered
PPG is the second-largest paint and coatings company behind Sherwin-Williams and is, arguably, best known for its paint brands Dulux, Glidden, and Pittsburgh Paints (for which it was originally named). PPG also owns Mexico's largest paint supplier, Comex -- after Sherwin-Williams' bid to acquire it fell through eight years ago -- as well as brands like Liquid Nails, Flood, and Sico.
While it has long had a strong presence in the consumer market, PPG is the dominant player in the global aerospace and automotive markets. In the former, it is a supplier to all the major aircraft manufacturers, with its coatings qualified for use on virtually all aircraft structures and exterior surfaces.
In the automotive market, PPG is the industry leader ahead of Akzo Nobel, Axalta, and Nippon, which together owned nearly 64% of the market in 2021.
PPG Industries' business was disrupted by the COVID pandemic in 2020, which should be no surprise. In the aerospace business, for example, pre-pandemic commercial revenue accounted for 70% of the total and 30% from the military, but the commercial sector collapsed during the outbreak and remains at around 40% due to fewer passenger miles flown and significantly fewer international flights.
One-time impact
I think it's fair to say that is an unprecedented outlier situation and that, assuming global governments don't fully shut down their economies and ban travel again, PPG's business will recover over time, and there shouldn't be such a severe disparity in future performance. There are still residual effects impacting performance from material shortages, supply chain disruptions, and inflation, but with a conservative management team that has deliberately employed a balanced approach to capital allocation by directing half its cash flows to shareholders and reinvesting the rest into the business.
CEO Michael McGarry told analysts earlier this year he expects PPG's cash flow generation to trend as it has seen in previous years, consuming cash early in the year and generating strong cash flows as the year progresses.
Paint it black
PPG Industries trades at 13 times earnings estimates, which are forecast to grow 12% annually over the next five years while operating profits are expected to expand 54% by 2026, or an 11.5% compounded annual rate.
It's a solid performance from a mature company in a rather staid industry, and with a consistent dividend to help juice bottom-line portfolio performance, PPG is a stock to buy for these times.
