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 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 90.76% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 111 percentage points.

Natures Sunshine Products has an average 1 year price target of $23.00, a downside of -13.01% from Natures Sunshine Products's current stock price of $26.44.

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 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 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 350.41% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 371 percentage points.

European Wax Center (NASDAQ:EWCZ) 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 European Wax Center (NASDAQ:EWCZ) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: D, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

European Wax Center (NASDAQ:EWCZ) has a Due Diligence Score of 49, which is 19 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. European Wax Center has seen its stock lose -38.96% over the past year, underperforming other consumer staple stocks by -18 percentage points.

European Wax Center has an average 1 year price target of $5.00, an upside of 22.25% from European Wax Center's current stock price of $4.09.

European Wax Center stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering European Wax Center, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% 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 17.04%, which is 14 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.02%. 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 9.41%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.02%. 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.

Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) has an annual dividend yield of 6.81%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.02%. 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 1.16% in the last day, and up 1.2% over the last week. Hain Celestial Group was the among the top gainers in the consumer defensive sector, gaining 2.48% yesterday.

The Hain Celestial Group shares are trading higher after the company announced it reached a definitive agreement to sell its North American Snacks business to Snackruptors.

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 32 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 25. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Lifevantage's stock has dropped -74.53% 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 4 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 25. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Herbalife's stock has gained 228.3% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 249 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 18 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 25. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nomad Foods's stock has dropped -29.19% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by -9 percentage points.

41.67% of consumer staple stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect consumer staple stocks to rise by 12.24% over the next year.

1.72% of consumer staple stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 17.24% of consumer staple stocks are rated B (Buy), 70.11% are rated C (Hold), 9.2% are rated D (Sell), and 1.72% are rated F (Strong Sell).