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 254 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: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Natures Sunshine Products (NASDAQ:NATR) has a Due Diligence Score of 37, which is 7 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Natures Sunshine Products has seen its stock return 71.33% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 94 percentage points.

Natures Sunshine Products has an average 1 year price target of $22.50, a downside of -10.79% from Natures Sunshine Products's current stock price of $25.22.

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.

Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) is the #2 top consumer staple stock out of 254 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 61, which is 31 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 19 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Village Farms International has seen its stock return 371.43% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 394 percentage points.

Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) is the #3 top consumer staple stock out of 254 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 Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: A, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Sanfilippo John B & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 9 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Sanfilippo John B & Son has seen its stock return 4.51% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 27 percentage points.

Sanfilippo John B & Son has an average 1 year price target of $109.00, an upside of 34.73% from Sanfilippo John B & Son's current stock price of $80.90.

Sanfilippo John B & Son stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Sanfilippo John B & Son, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% 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 77 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 17.39%, which is 14 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.04%. 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 9.46%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.04%. Cal Maine Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% ten times in the last 10 years. Cal Maine Foods's dividend has not 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.

Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) has an annual dividend yield of 6.74%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.04%. Kraft Heinz Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Kraft Heinz Co's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Kraft Heinz Co's dividend payout ratio of -43% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Consumer staple stocks were up 0.74% in the last day, and down -0.3% over the last week. Colgate Palmolive Co was the among the top gainers in the consumer defensive sector, gaining 5.92% yesterday.

Colgate-Palmolive shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 financial results.

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:

Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN) 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.

Lifevantage has a valuation score of 57, which is 31 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 26. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Lifevantage's stock has dropped -76.34% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by -54 percentage points.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) 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.

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 202.46% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 225 percentage points.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) 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.

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 -28.37% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by -6 percentage points.

40.91% of consumer staple stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect consumer staple stocks to rise by 13.08% over the next year.

2.31% of consumer staple stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 16.18% of consumer staple stocks are rated B (Buy), 70.52% are rated C (Hold), 9.25% are rated D (Sell), and 1.73% are rated F (Strong Sell).