Sectors & IndustriesConsumer Defensive

Best Consumer Staple Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top consumer staple stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Due Diligence Score. See the best consumer staple stocks to buy now, according to analyst forecasts for the consumer defensive sector.

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 consumer staple stocks to buy right now are:

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) is the #1 top consumer staple stock out of 255 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: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) has a Due Diligence Score of 34, which is 4 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Natures Sunshine Products has seen its stock return 80.39% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 98 percentage points.

Natures Sunshine Products has an average 1 year price target of $23.00, a downside of -13.21% from Natures Sunshine Products's current stock price of $26.50.

Natures Sunshine Products stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst 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.

Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) is the #2 top consumer staple stock out of 255 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 Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) has a Due Diligence Score of 58, which is 28 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 18 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Village Farms International has seen its stock return 310.05% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 328 percentage points.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) is the #3 top consumer staple stock out of 255 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 Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 13 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ingles Markets has seen its stock return 37.84% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 56 percentage points.

Out of 79 consumer staple stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 consumer staple stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) has an annual dividend yield of 14.56%, which is 12 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 2.99%. 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 -24.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Cal Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) has an annual dividend yield of 9.49%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 2.99%. Cal Maine Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% nine times in the last 10 years. Cal Maine Foods's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Cal Maine Foods's dividend payout ratio of 36.5% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

United Guardian (NASDAQ:UG) has an annual dividend yield of 7.59%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 2.99%. United Guardian's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% seven times in the last 10 years. United Guardian's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

United Guardian's dividend payout ratio of 139.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Consumer staple stocks were up 0.12% in the last day, and up 0.43% over the last week. Mcgraw Hill was the among the top gainers in the consumer defensive sector, gaining 15.96% yesterday.

McGraw Hill shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 financial results and raised its FY26 sales guidance.

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 consumer staple stocks right now are:

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) is the most undervalued consumer staple 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 29, which is 3 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 26. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Herbalife's stock has gained 214.68% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 233 percentage points.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) is the second most undervalued consumer staple stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Nomad Foods has a valuation score of 43, which is 17 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 26. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nomad Foods's stock has dropped -28.92% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by -11 percentage points.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) is the third most undervalued consumer staple 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 3 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 26. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ingredion's stock has dropped -8.4% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 10 percentage points.

40.6% of consumer staple stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect consumer staple stocks to rise by 9.22% over the next year.

2.33% of consumer staple stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.95% of consumer staple stocks are rated B (Buy), 72.67% are rated C (Hold), 9.3% are rated D (Sell), and 1.74% are rated F (Strong Sell).