If I Could Only Buy and Hold a Single Stock, This Would Be It

It’s never ideal to start a new year with a correction in the first quarter, and while the rollover could always get worse, with a near-correction turning into a correction or a correction evolving into a bear market (maybe a bear market into a crash), investors should stay the course, regardless of what one thinks we’re in for.

Of course, there’s always an overly bearish pundit that comes out of hibernation when the market rollercoaster gets a bit wilder. And while many of them are smart, it remains incredibly difficult to time markets over short periods. For every bear on weakness, there’s a bull who thinks the move is to buy the dip.

In any case, it can get pretty confusing when the bulls, bears, and mildly cautious bulls or somewhat optimistic bears look to give their take on where the stock market is headed next week, next month, or for the rest of the year. For investors, the big question is how stocks will do over the next 10 or 20 years, as you ride out the downs and enjoy the ups. Indeed, over the decades, time is on the side of stocks and, with that, more focus should be paid on the coming decade instead of the coming month or quarter.

Couche-Tard stock looks like a value buy right here

Of course, the quarter-to-quarter action is fun during bull markets, but horrific during times of recession. And while there will always be recession predictions or calls for stagflation, I do think that it doesn’t mean a whole lot if you’ve already committed to sticking with stocks for the long haul. If you’re in it for the next decade or more, then buying into weakness could be like giving yourself a gift. In this piece, we’ll look at Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD), the one stock I’d be more than willing to buy as the rest of the markets go on sale.

Undoubtedly, shares of ATD plunged into a 10% correction in just a matter of days. It was scary, to say the least, as the rest of the market exhibited tremendous weakness. However, after such a decline that wiped out much of the gains in the prior month, investors should be ready to step in.

Couche-Tard isn’t supposed to be a hyper-volatile stock. In fact, it’s supposed to be holding its own in a market-wide panic driven by AI fears and geopolitical turmoil. The 0.76 beta implies less correlation to the TSX Index, after all. Either way, the stock got crushed in the week that followed an underwhelming quarterly earnings report and jitters surrounding higher prices at the pump.

Volatility might be an opportunity for ATD investors

Of course, the initial reaction was mildly negative, but as the market rolled over, ATD stock was one of the names that investors were more willing to part with (higher gas prices mean less to spend on snacks in the store, right?). I think this is a buying opportunity for investors who want a name that’s on the long-term growth track. In any given quarter, consumers might be less willing to load up the shopping basket, while gas prices move violently in both directions. However, when it comes to the long-term, volatility isn’t a foe of Couche-Tard.

CEO Alex Miller has said that “times of volatility historically have almost always been positive.” He’s right. The company is better able to get bang for its buck while moving through times of panic. And for investors who want a steady deployer of capital through uncertain times, I’d argue ATD stock is a bargain buy at 19.9 times trailing price-to-earnings (P/E).

The post If I Could Only Buy and Hold a Single Stock, This Would Be It appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Joey Frenette has positions in Alimentation Couche-Tard. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alimentation Couche-Tard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.