Top Consumer Defensive Stocks by Return on Assets
Top consumer defensive companies ranked by return on assets, latest annual filings.
What Return on Assets Means for Consumer Defensive Companies
Return on assets measures profit against everything on the balance sheet, and consumer defensive companies bring a particular quirk to it. Staples demand is steady, so earnings are predictable and returns tend to sit in a comfortable middle-to-upper band. The brands doing the earning, though, were built through decades of advertising that was expensed as it happened, so the asset that supports the pricing is largely invisible in the denominator.
Why It Matters Less in Consumer Defensive
That invisibility decides much of the ranking. A company that grew its brands itself carries almost nothing for them and posts a high return; a company that bought equally good brands carries goodwill for the purchase price and posts a lower one, though both may supply the same shelf of products at similar margins. Acquisition history, not operating skill, explains a large part of the spread, so the figure is best read next to how the portfolio was assembled.
What to Read Alongside
Pair return on assets with Return on Equity to strip out the effect of debt, Net Margin for the pricing power behind the brands, and Total Assets to see how much of the base is acquired goodwill.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BRBR | BellRing Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 22.98% | $1.11B |
| 2 | LOPE | Grand Canyon Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 21.78% | $4.19B |
| 3 | FIZZ | National Beverage Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 21.56% | $3.35B |
| 4 | MO | Altria Group, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 19.84% | $122.93B |
| 5 | MNST | Monster Beverage Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 19.08% | $90.98B |
| 6 | PM | Philip Morris International Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 16.40% | $314.64B |
| 7 | LRN | Stride, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 13.89% | $3.26B |
| 8 | UL | Unilever PLC | Consumer Defensive | 13.44% | $141.29B |
| 9 | COKE | Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 13.26% | $13.89B |
| 10 | CL | Colgate-Palmolive Company | Consumer Defensive | 13.06% | $74.22B |
| 11 | LAUR | Laureate Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.76% | $5.30B |
| 12 | PG | The Procter & Gamble Company | Consumer Defensive | 12.68% | $370.66B |
| 13 | SFM | Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.59% | $6.15B |
| 14 | KO | The Coca-Cola Company | Consumer Defensive | 12.50% | $398.85B |
| 15 | MZTI | The Marzetti Company | Consumer Defensive | 11.94% | $2.98B |
| 16 | KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 11.82% | $36.46B |
| 17 | NUS | Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.40% | $228.29M |
| 18 | IPAR | Interparfums, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 10.62% | $3.69B |
| 19 | PPC | Pilgrim's Pride Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 10.46% | $6.51B |
| 20 | COST | Costco Wholesale Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 10.36% | $445.42B |
| 21 | CALM | Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 10.19% | $2.91B |
| 22 | DLTR | Dollar Tree, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.52% | $23.44B |
| 23 | JBSS | John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.40% | $787.79M |
| 24 | INGR | Ingredion Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 9.23% | $6.02B |
| 25 | SAM | The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.09% | $2.05B |
| 26 | BF | Brown-Forman Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 9.06% | $13.68B |
| 27 | TAL | TAL Education Group | Consumer Defensive | 8.94% | $5.68B |
| 28 | CVSA | Covista Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.35% | $4.45B |
| 29 | CHD | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.27% | $25.00B |
| 30 | HLF | Herbalife Ltd. | Consumer Defensive | 8.19% | $1.39B |
| 31 | OLLI | Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.14% | $5.00B |
| 32 | SFD | Smithfield Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.11% | $7.21B |
| 33 | FRPT | Freshpet, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.83% | $3.11B |
| 34 | BJ | BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.70% | $13.43B |
| 35 | KOF | Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. | Consumer Defensive | 7.70% | $24.35B |
| 36 | STZ | Constellation Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.70% | $22.95B |
| 37 | WMT | Walmart Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.69% | $954.35B |
| 38 | PEP | PepsiCo, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.67% | $184.60B |
| 39 | BTI | British American Tobacco p.l.c. | Consumer Defensive | 7.10% | $129.16B |
| 40 | NGVC | Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.93% | $713.51M |
| 41 | CCEP | Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC | Consumer Defensive | 6.50% | $49.32B |
| 42 | HSY | The Hershey Company | Consumer Defensive | 6.43% | $33.80B |
| 43 | PSMT | PriceSmart, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.40% | $5.34B |
| 44 | TGT | Target Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 6.23% | $67.48B |
| 45 | STRA | Strategic Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.21% | $1.80B |
| 46 | SYY | Sysco Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 6.19% | $40.42B |
| 47 | MKC | McCormick & Company, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 5.98% | $12.91B |
| 48 | KVUE | Kenvue Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.43% | $37.46B |
| 49 | EDU | New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.40% | $9.05B |
| 50 | VLGEA | Village Super Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.07% | $660.95M |
| 51 | DG | Dollar General Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 4.88% | $28.33B |
| 52 | USFD | US Foods Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 4.85% | $21.93B |
| 53 | JJSF | J&J Snack Foods Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 4.75% | $1.55B |
| 54 | WMK | Weis Markets, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.62% | $1.92B |
| 55 | CENT | Central Garden & Pet Company | Consumer Defensive | 4.49% | $2.83B |
| 56 | JBS | JBS N.V. | Consumer Defensive | 4.48% | $40.76B |
| 57 | DEO | Diageo plc | Consumer Defensive | 4.18% | $52.51B |
| 58 | FMX | Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. | Consumer Defensive | 4.15% | $42.58B |
| 59 | LW | Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.93% | $7.39B |
| 60 | MICC | The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. | Consumer Defensive | 3.91% | $11.73B |
| 61 | AVO | Mission Produce, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.84% | $1.03B |
| 62 | KDP | Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.75% | $47.62B |
| 63 | CHEF | The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.57% | $4.34B |
| 64 | HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 3.57% | $11.53B |
| 65 | MDLZ | Mondelez International, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.43% | $80.37B |
| 66 | DDL | Dingdong (Cayman) Limited | Consumer Defensive | 3.30% | $432.94M |
| 67 | IMKTA | Ingles Markets, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 3.26% | $1.66B |
| 68 | CHSCL | CHS Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.17% | – |
| 69 | BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Consumer Defensive | 3.12% | $161.43B |
| 70 | DMC | Del Monte Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 2.97% | $1.37B |
| 71 | SPB | Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.96% | $1.84B |
| 72 | ANDE | The Andersons, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.58% | $2.19B |
| 73 | CPB | The Campbell's Company | Consumer Defensive | 2.58% | $6.15B |
| 74 | POST | Post Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.48% | $3.54B |
| 75 | NOMD | Nomad Foods Limited | Consumer Defensive | 2.16% | $1.66B |
| 76 | CELH | Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.11% | $7.12B |
| 77 | ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Company | Consumer Defensive | 2.06% | $38.08B |
| 78 | KR | The Kroger Co. | Consumer Defensive | 2.03% | $39.43B |
| 79 | FLO | Flowers Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.00% | $1.30B |
| 80 | PFGC | Performance Food Group Company | Consumer Defensive | 1.91% | $15.02B |
| 81 | BG | Bunge Global SA | Consumer Defensive | 1.83% | $19.64B |
| 82 | TSN | Tyson Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 1.29% | $19.84B |
| 83 | UNFI | United Natural Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 1.18% | $2.91B |
| 84 | UVV | Universal Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 1.18% | $970.08M |
| 85 | DOLE | Dole plc | Consumer Defensive | 1.17% | $1.26B |
| 86 | ELF | e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 1.10% | $6.66B |
| 87 | EL | The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.92% | $39.43B |
| 88 | ACI | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.81% | $6.78B |
| 89 | EPC | Edgewell Personal Care Company | Consumer Defensive | 0.68% | $1.29B |
| 90 | MH | McGraw Hill, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.64% | $2.76B |
| 91 | DAR | Darling Ingredients Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.61% | $9.02B |
| 92 | PRMB | Primo Brands Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 0.57% | $7.12B |
| 93 | DIT | AMCON Distributing Company | Consumer Defensive | 0.15% | $63.00M |
| 94 | UTZ | Utz Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.03% | $1.27B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by return on assets 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.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $1 billion in annual revenue or above, so a small filer with a freak ratio cannot top the list.
- Value range: Only figures above 0% and up to 100% qualify.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
Why do two similar staples companies show very different returns on assets?
Usually because one built its brands and the other bought them. Marketing spend that created a brand internally was expensed year by year and left no asset behind, while an acquired brand arrives on the balance sheet at the price paid, complete with goodwill. The buyer therefore carries a much larger denominator for the same earning power. The gap describes corporate history rather than a difference in how the products perform.
Is a steady return on assets more informative than a high one in staples?
In this sector, consistency carries most of the signal. Demand for household products changes slowly, so a return that holds its level through commodity cost swings and private-label pressure suggests the company is passing costs through and defending shelf space. A single strong year can come from a disposal gain or a favorable input cycle. Several years at the same level is the more durable observation.