"When you go to your local drugstore and see the retailer's private label of aspirin or cough syrup selling for substantially less than the branded versions, there's a good chance that Perrigo was the manufacturer of that product.

"The company also produces a broad range of over-the-counter consumer products including pregnancy tests, sleep aids, smoking cessation aids, anti-acids, etc.

"Recently they made large bets in the nutrition area by offering private-branded versions of popular multivitamins and other types of supplements.

"The company is also active in prescription pharmaceuticals through their Chemgis division, which provides active pharmaceutical ingredients for a variety of customers worldwide.

"Perrigo is headquartered in Israel but has manufacturing facilities in Mexico, the U.S., and Germany along with operational divisions in China, India, and the U.K.

"As you can imagine in a depressed economy, consumers are increasingly choosing generic versions of popular over-the-counter products, which has allowed the company to grow while the sales of more expensive mainstream name-brand products are flat to down.

"Revenue from their most recent quarter (to March 28) increased by 5% to $506 million as compared to $481 million in the prior year (figures in U.S. dollars). Sales of consumer healthcare products grew by 12%. Earnings came in at a record 50 cents per share.

"For the first nine months of the 2009 fiscal year, net sales from continuing operations were $1.5 billion, an increase of 19% over fiscal 2008. Reported gross profit was $432.1 million, increase of 13% over last year, driven by the consumer healthcare segment.

"Barron's recently ran a favorable article about the company, drawing attention to the fact that as long as consumers are under the gun they are likely to be frugal in their shopping habits.

"If they get used to using generic products it will be hard for branded manufacturers to persuade them to switch back when the economy recovers.

"None of the products in the company's portfolio are particularly exotic and verge on being nondiscretionary for most consumers. So even if the market corrects again I think the stock can provide some stability in your portfolio.

"The fact it pays a small dividend (22c a year) contributes to the overall return. The stock has recovered significantly from its March low of $18.54 but is still well below the 52-week high of $40, reached last September."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a free daily overview of the favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.