The 9 Best Consumer Staples Stocks to Buy

In an uncertain market, the best consumer staples stocks provide consistency and stability to portfolios.

basket full of fruits and vegetables
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Consumer staples stocks are a traditional safe haven from uncertainty, which has already proven to be more than abundant over the past 12 months.

The S&P 500 closed 2022 with a total loss of about 18% on the year, its worst annual return since the financial crisis of 2008. Those declines, coupled with stubbornly high inflation, a rising interest-rate environment and uncertainty over the potential for a bigger slowdown in the U.S. economy has many investors seeking out safety. 

And one area of the market to find consistency and stability is the consumer staples sector. After all, companies that sell detergent or shampoo or packaged foods will still do a brisk business even if broader spending trends decline.

With that in mind, here are nine of the best consumer staples stocks to buy now. All have something different to offer, and many also pay generous dividends on top of the potential for share appreciation.

Data is as of Feb. 17. Dividend yields are calculated by annualizing the most recent payout and dividing by the share price.

Jeff Reeves
Contributing Writer, Kiplinger.com

Jeff Reeves writes about equity markets and exchange-traded funds for Kiplinger. A veteran journalist with extensive capital markets experience, Jeff has written about Wall Street and investing since 2008. His work has appeared in numerous respected finance outlets, including CNBC, the Fox Business Network, the Wall Street Journal digital network, USA Today and CNN Money.