Sectors & IndustriesConsumer Defensive

Best Consumer Staple Stocks to Buy Now (2025)

Top consumer staple stocks in 2025 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:

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) is the #1 top consumer staple stock out of 253 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 American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

American Public Education (NASDAQ:APEI) has a Due Diligence Score of 51, which is 20 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 31. It passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. American Public Education has seen its stock return 69.75% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 81 percentage points.

American Public Education has an average 1 year price target of $25.75, an upside of 9.76% from American Public Education's current stock price of $23.46.

American Public Education stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering American Public Education, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Dingdong (NYSE:DDL) is the #2 top consumer staple stock out of 253 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 Dingdong (NYSE:DDL) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: A.

Dingdong (NYSE:DDL) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 16 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 31. It passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Dingdong has seen its stock return 76.6% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 87 percentage points.

Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN) is the #3 top consumer staple stock out of 253 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 Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN) is: Value: A, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 4 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 31. It passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Lifevantage has seen its stock return 89.48% over the past year, overperforming other consumer staple stocks by 100 percentage points.

Lifevantage has an average 1 year price target of $30.50, an upside of 160.46% from Lifevantage's current stock price of $11.71.

Lifevantage stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Lifevantage, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% 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 83 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 8.37%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 2.5%. 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 -23.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) has an annual dividend yield of 7.52%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 2.5%. National Beverage's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. National Beverage's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

National Beverage's dividend payout ratio of 163.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Brasilagro Brazilian Agricultural Real Estate Co (NYSE:LND) has an annual dividend yield of 7.32%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 2.5%. Brasilagro Brazilian Agricultural Real Estate Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% six times in the last 10 years. Brasilagro Brazilian Agricultural Real Estate Co's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Brasilagro Brazilian Agricultural Real Estate Co's dividend payout ratio of 68.7% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Consumer staple stocks were down -1.78% in the last day, and down -1.51% over the last week. Pilgrims Pride was the among the top losers in the consumer defensive sector, dropping -14.35% yesterday.

Pilgrim's Pride shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 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:

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 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 dropped -23.62% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by -13 percentage points.

Lifevantage (NASDAQ:LFVN) 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.

Lifevantage has a valuation score of 14, which is -11 points higher than the consumer staple sector average of 25. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates LFVN a Valuation Rating of "A".

Lifevantage's stock has gained 89.48% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 100 percentage points.

Cal Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) 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.

Cal Maine Foods 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.

Cal Maine Foods's stock has gained 67.38% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the consumer staple sector by 78 percentage points.

36.36% of consumer staple stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect consumer staple stocks to rise by 14.39% over the next year.

8.11% of consumer staple stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 18.38% of consumer staple stocks are rated B (Buy), 63.78% are rated C (Hold), 8.11% are rated D (Sell), and 1.62% are rated F (Strong Sell).