Sectors & IndustriesConsumer DefensivePackaged Foods

Best Food Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top food stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best food stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best food stocks to buy right now are:

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) is the #1 top food stock out of 66 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 2 points higher than the food industry average of 30.

NATR passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Natures Sunshine Products has seen its stock return 117.1% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 176 percentage points.

Natures Sunshine Products has an average 1 year price target of $33.00, an upside of 23.78% from Natures Sunshine Products's current stock price of $26.66.

Natures Sunshine Products stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Natures Sunshine Products, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) is the #2 top food stock out of 66 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is 1 points higher than the food industry average of 30.

HLF passed 10 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Herbalife has seen its stock return 145.55% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 205 percentage points.

Herbalife has an average 1 year price target of $18.00, an upside of 10.57% from Herbalife's current stock price of $16.28.

Herbalife stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Herbalife, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) is the #3 top food stock out of 66 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) has a Due Diligence Score of 29, which is -1 points lower than the food industry average of 30. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates DAR as a "A".

DAR passed 10 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Darling Ingredients has seen its stock return 94.84% over the past year, overperforming other food stocks by 154 percentage points.

Darling Ingredients has an average 1 year price target of $67.90, an upside of 6.48% from Darling Ingredients's current stock price of $63.77.

Darling Ingredients stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 10 analysts covering Darling Ingredients, 70% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 30% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 20 food stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 food stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) has an annual dividend yield of 13.72%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 5.22%. B&G Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. B&G Foods's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

B&G Foods's dividend payout ratio of -140.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) has an annual dividend yield of 9.96%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 5.22%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Conagra Brands's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio of -1,555.6% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) has an annual dividend yield of 8.53%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the food industry average of 5.22%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Flowers Foods's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio of 246% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Food stocks were down -1.49% in the last day, and down -0.24% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why food stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued food stocks right now are:

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) is the most undervalued food stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Herbalife has a valuation score of 57, which is 35 points higher than the food industry average of 22. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Herbalife's stock has gained 145.55% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 205 percentage points.

Usana Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) is the second most undervalued food stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Usana Health Sciences has a valuation score of 43, which is 21 points higher than the food industry average of 22. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Usana Health Sciences's stock has dropped -30.99% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 28 percentage points.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) is the third most undervalued food stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ingredion has a valuation score of 29, which is 7 points higher than the food industry average of 22. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ingredion's stock has dropped -15.7% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the food industry by 44 percentage points.

46.34% of food stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect food stocks to rise by 26.3% over the next year.

7.32% of food stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 7.32% of food stocks are rated B (Buy), 78.05% are rated C (Hold), 4.88% are rated D (Sell), and 2.44% are rated F (Strong Sell).