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:

Acme United (NYSEMKT:ACU) is the #1 top consumer staple stock out of 246 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Acme United (NYSEMKT:ACU) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Acme United (NYSEMKT:ACU) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 9 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 31. It passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Acme United has seen its stock return 47.78% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 138 percentage points.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) is the #2 top consumer staple stock out of 246 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

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

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 10 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 31. It passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Darling Ingredients has seen its stock return 73.4% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 163 percentage points.

Darling Ingredients has an average 1 year price target of $74.00, an upside of 18.74% from Darling Ingredients's current stock price of $62.32.

Darling Ingredients stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Darling Ingredients, 62.5% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 12.5% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Helen Of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) is the #3 top consumer staple stock out of 246 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Helen Of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Helen Of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) has a Due Diligence Score of 13, which is -18 points lower than the consumer staple sector average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates HELE as a "A".It passed 4 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Helen Of Troy has seen its stock return 16.42% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 106 percentage points.

Helen Of Troy has an average 1 year price target of $26.50, a downside of -7.28% from Helen Of Troy's current stock price of $28.58.

Helen Of Troy stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Helen Of Troy, 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 91 consumer staple stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 consumer staple stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Pilgrims Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the consumer staple sector average of 3.16%. Pilgrims Pride's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Pilgrims Pride's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Pilgrims Pride's dividend payout ratio of 91.3% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) has an annual dividend yield of 19.05%, which is 16 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.16%. B&G Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two 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 -74.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) has an annual dividend yield of 11.93%, which is 9 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.16%. Flowers Foods's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Flowers Foods's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Flowers Foods's dividend payout ratio of 321.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Consumer staple stocks were up 1.12% in the last day, and up 2.64% over the last week. Suja Life was the among the top gainers in the consumer defensive sector, gaining 17.84% yesterday.

Shares of food product companies are trading higher as corn prices hit a 3-year high due to crop yield concerns and Russian attacks on ships in the Black Sea, pressuring supplies. Also, UN Secretary-General Guterres said global food supply has become "collateral damage" in conflicts involving the US, Iran, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, the Yemeni Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

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 57, which is 35 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 22. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Herbalife's stock has gained 32.98% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 123 percentage points.

Phoenix Education Partners (NYSE:PXED) 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.

Phoenix Education Partners has a valuation score of 0, which is -22 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 22. It passed 0 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates PXED a Valuation Rating of "A".

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) 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.

Afya has a valuation score of 100, which is 78 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 22. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -5.64% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 84 percentage points.

40.15% of consumer staple stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect consumer staple stocks to rise by 16.69% over the next year.

2.94% of consumer staple stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 11.18% of consumer staple stocks are rated B (Buy), 70% are rated C (Hold), 11.76% are rated D (Sell), and 4.12% are rated F (Strong Sell).