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

Acme United (NYSEMKT:ACU) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 12 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Acme United has seen its stock return 9.5% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 26 percentage points.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) 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 Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Afya (NASDAQ:AFYA) has a Due Diligence Score of 59, which is 29 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 30. It passed 23 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Afya has seen its stock lose -15.17% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 2 percentage points.

Afya has an average 1 year price target of $17.75, an upside of 29% from Afya's current stock price of $13.76.

Afya stock has a consensus Sell recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Afya, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 75% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 25% have issued a Strong Sell.

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 40, which is 10 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 8.35% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 25 percentage points.

Sanfilippo John B & Son has an average 1 year price target of $109.00, an upside of 42.91% from Sanfilippo John B & Son's current stock price of $76.27.

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 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 14.5%, which is 11 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.26%. 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.

Cal Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) has an annual dividend yield of 8.99%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.26%. 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.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) has an annual dividend yield of 8.53%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 3.26%. 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 -666.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Consumer staple stocks were up 0.59% in the last day, and down -1.03% over the last week. American Public Education was the among the top gainers in the consumer defensive sector, gaining 21.19% yesterday.

American Public Education shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 financial results and issued Q1 GAAP EPS and sales guidance above estimates.

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

Herbalife's stock has gained 90.71% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 108 percentage points.

Usana Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) 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.

Usana Health Sciences 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.

Usana Health Sciences's stock has dropped -42.9% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by -26 percentage points.

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 71, which is 46 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 25. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Afya's stock has dropped -15.17% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 2 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 15.93% over the next year.

4.14% of consumer staple stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.61% of consumer staple stocks are rated B (Buy), 72.78% are rated C (Hold), 7.1% are rated D (Sell), and 2.37% are rated F (Strong Sell).