Most Indebted Consumer Defensive Stocks
Top consumer defensive companies ranked by long-term debt, latest annual filings.
Most Indebted Consumer Defensive Companies: What Long-Term Debt Tells You
Long-term debt in consumer defensive reflects the sector's steady cash generation more than any operational stress. Food, beverage, household product, and tobacco firms often carry meaningful debt, much of it used to fund shareholder returns or large brand acquisitions. Because demand is relatively stable through cycles, defensive firms enjoy reliable investment-grade access to credit markets and can carry leverage ratios that would be uncomfortable for a more cyclical business.
Why Debt Isn't Always a Red Flag in Consumer Defensive
Stable operating cash flow lets defensive staples service large debt loads comfortably across environments, and debt-funded dividends and buybacks are a long-established feature of the sector. Still, defensive does not mean immune: volume declines driven by private-label growth, health trends, or category shifts can erode the cash flows that support the leverage, and a firm carrying heavy debt into a period of secular volume pressure has fewer options than peers with cleaner balance sheets.
What to Read Alongside
Pair long-term debt with [Free Cash Flow](/financials/top-free-cash-flow-stocks/consumer-defensive/) to gauge servicing capacity against steady staples cash generation, [EBITDA](/financials/top-ebitda-stocks/consumer-defensive/) for leverage ratios relative to operating earnings, and [Cash & Equivalents](/financials/top-cash-rich-stocks/consumer-defensive/) for the net-debt view after balance sheet cash.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Consumer Defensive | $73.01B | $159.17B |
| 2 | PM | Philip Morris International Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $45.13B | $281.74B |
| 3 | PEP | PepsiCo, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $42.32B | $196.45B |
| 4 | KO | The Coca-Cola Company | Consumer Defensive | $42.12B | $355.08B |
| 5 | WMT | Walmart Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $36.89B | $958.95B |
| 6 | PG | The Procter & Gamble Company | Consumer Defensive | $25.00B | $345.42B |
| 7 | MO | Altria Group, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $24.14B | $119.25B |
| 8 | KHC | The Kraft Heinz Company | Consumer Defensive | $19.31B | $28.72B |
| 9 | MDLZ | Mondelez International, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $17.22B | $81.33B |
| 10 | KR | The Kroger Co. | Consumer Defensive | $14.51B | $39.53B |
| 11 | TGT | Target Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $14.28B | $60.24B |
| 12 | KDP | Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $13.04B | $42.49B |
| 13 | GIS | General Mills, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $12.67B | $18.05B |
| 14 | SYY | Sysco Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $12.36B | $38.08B |
| 15 | STZ | Constellation Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $9.69B | $24.54B |
| 16 | BG | Bunge Global SA | Consumer Defensive | $8.83B | $24.31B |
| 17 | ACI | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $8.41B | $7.61B |
| 18 | TSN | Tyson Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $7.92B | $19.59B |
| 19 | POST | Post Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $7.42B | $4.22B |
| 20 | EL | The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $7.31B | $31.85B |
| 21 | CL | Colgate-Palmolive Company | Consumer Defensive | $6.87B | $71.53B |
| 22 | ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Company | Consumer Defensive | $6.61B | $38.03B |
| 23 | KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $6.47B | $33.71B |
| 24 | SJM | The J. M. Smucker Company | Consumer Defensive | $6.39B | $12.46B |
| 25 | CAG | Conagra Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $6.23B | $6.43B |
| 26 | CPB | The Campbell's Company | Consumer Defensive | $6.10B | $6.78B |
| 27 | COST | Costco Wholesale Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $5.71B | $432.70B |
| 28 | PFGC | Performance Food Group Company | Consumer Defensive | $5.39B | $16.35B |
| 29 | FMX | Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. | Consumer Defensive | $5.26B | $43.73B |
| 30 | PRMB | Primo Brands Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $5.08B | $8.54B |
| 31 | USFD | US Foods Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $5.06B | $20.09B |
| 32 | K | Kellanova | Consumer Defensive | $5.00B | $29.03B |
| 33 | HSY | The Hershey Company | Consumer Defensive | $4.68B | $36.68B |
| 34 | DG | Dollar General Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $4.56B | $25.22B |
| 35 | NWL | Newell Brands Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $4.54B | $1.96B |
| 36 | DAR | Darling Ingredients Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $4.05B | $9.06B |
| 37 | COTY | Coty Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $3.96B | $1.79B |
| 38 | TAP | Molson Coors Beverage Company | Consumer Defensive | $3.88B | $7.68B |
| 39 | LW | Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $3.77B | $6.23B |
| 40 | MKC | McCormick & Company, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | $3.11B | $13.24B |
| 41 | PPC | Pilgrim's Pride Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $3.09B | $7.06B |
| 42 | DLTR | Dollar Tree, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $2.93B | $22.08B |
| 43 | HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $2.85B | $13.45B |
| 44 | COKE | Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $2.69B | $12.40B |
| 45 | MH | McGraw Hill, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $2.56B | $2.36B |
| 46 | CLX | The Clorox Company | Consumer Defensive | $2.48B | $11.89B |
| 47 | CHD | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $2.21B | $23.00B |
| 48 | SFD | Smithfield Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.99B | $10.46B |
| 49 | HLF | Herbalife Ltd. | Consumer Defensive | $1.97B | $1.26B |
| 50 | UNFI | United Natural Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.92B | $3.02B |
| 51 | INGR | Ingredion Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | $1.74B | $6.36B |
| 52 | JBS | JBS N.V. | Consumer Defensive | $1.41B | $13.06B |
| 53 | THS | Treehouse Foods Inc | Consumer Defensive | $1.41B | $1.23B |
| 54 | EPC | Edgewell Personal Care Company | Consumer Defensive | $1.38B | $1.00B |
| 55 | FLO | Flowers Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.32B | $1.65B |
| 56 | CENT | Central Garden & Pet Company | Consumer Defensive | $1.19B | $2.65B |
| 57 | BRBR | BellRing Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.08B | $1.04B |
| 58 | DNUT | Krispy Kreme, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.91B | $0.72B |
| 59 | ELF | e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.84B | $3.61B |
| 60 | UTZ | Utz Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.82B | $0.63B |
| 61 | DOLE | Dole plc | Consumer Defensive | $0.80B | $1.34B |
| 62 | HELE | Helen of Troy Limited | Consumer Defensive | $0.76B | $0.68B |
| 63 | CHEF | The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.72B | $3.66B |
| 64 | CELH | Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.67B | $7.26B |
| 65 | UVV | Universal Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.62B | $1.33B |
| 66 | ANDE | The Andersons, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.56B | $2.41B |
| 67 | SPB | Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.56B | $1.94B |
| 68 | CVSA | Covista Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.55B | $4.49B |
| 69 | ATGE | Adtalem Global Education Inc | Consumer Defensive | $0.55B | $3.40B |
| 70 | DEO | Diageo plc | Consumer Defensive | $0.54B | $45.09B |
| 71 | IMKTA | Ingles Markets, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | $0.50B | $1.77B |
| 72 | GO | Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $0.47B | $0.93B |
| 73 | KLG | WK Kellogg Co | Consumer Defensive | $0.46B | $1.99B |
| 74 | LRN | Stride, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.42B | $4.23B |
| 75 | BJ | BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.40B | $11.61B |
| 76 | SENEB | Seneca Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.37B | $1.15B |
| 77 | WEST | Westrock Coffee Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.36B | $0.93B |
| 78 | GHC | Graham Holdings Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.31B | $4.98B |
| 79 | AGRO | Adecoagro S.A. | Consumer Defensive | $0.30B | $1.69B |
| 80 | TPB | Turning Point Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.29B | $1.57B |
| 81 | SMPL | The Simply Good Foods Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.25B | $1.14B |
| 82 | STKL | SunOpta Inc | Consumer Defensive | $0.22B | $0.77B |
| 83 | FDP | Del Monte Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.18B | $1.37B |
| 84 | PSMT | PriceSmart, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.15B | $5.57B |
| 85 | IPAR | Interparfums, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.12B | $3.21B |
| 86 | AVO | Mission Produce, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.10B | $0.98B |
| 87 | APEI | American Public Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.09B | $0.98B |
| 88 | UTI | Universal Technical Institute, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.08B | $2.25B |
| 89 | LAUR | Laureate Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.07B | $5.31B |
| 90 | VLGEA | Village Super Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.05B | $0.61B |
| 91 | JBSS | John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.01B | $0.91B |
| 92 | MAMA | Mama's Creations, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.01B | $0.60B |
| 93 | OLLI | Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.00B | $5.06B |
| 94 | MZTI | The Marzetti Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.00B | $3.00B |
| 95 | JJSF | J&J Snack Foods Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $0.00B | $1.47B |
| 96 | LINC | Lincoln Educational Services Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.00B | $1.51B |
| 97 | NGVC | Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.00B | $0.72B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by long-term debt as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.