Top Consumer Defensive Stocks by Return on Equity
Top consumer defensive companies ranked by return on equity, latest annual filings.
What Return on Equity Means for Consumer Defensive Companies
Return on Equity divides net income by shareholder equity. In consumer defensive, staples firms typically post elevated ratios because well-established brands generate steady earnings while decades of retained earnings and aggressive buyback programs have kept the equity base modest. The combination produces Return on Equity figures that look flattering but owe as much to capital-return history as to operating strength in any single year.
Why It Matters Less in Consumer Defensive
Staples Return on Equity reflects brand power and pricing durability through cycles, which deserves credit. At the same time, sustained buybacks shrink the equity denominator and inflate the ratio even in years of flat earnings, which is a particular pattern in this sector because mature staples firms have generated surplus cash for many years. DuPont decomposition and multi-year earnings trajectory reveal whether a strong reading reflects genuine operating excellence or accumulated capital-return effects.
What to Read Alongside
Pair Return on Equity with Net Income to see the absolute profit trend, Long-term Debt to check leverage, and Share Buybacks to see how capital return shapes the equity base.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CLX | The Clorox Company | Consumer Defensive | 252.34% | $10.26B |
| 2 | KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 134.55% | $32.51B |
| 3 | SYY | Sysco Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 65.90% | $37.61B |
| 4 | KO | The Coca-Cola Company | Consumer Defensive | 40.74% | $374.84B |
| 5 | PEP | PepsiCo, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 40.38% | $176.88B |
| 6 | SFM | Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 37.32% | $6.40B |
| 7 | K | Kellanova | Consumer Defensive | 35.58% | $29.03B |
| 8 | DLTR | Dollar Tree, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 34.16% | $21.08B |
| 9 | PG | The Procter & Gamble Company | Consumer Defensive | 29.54% | $339.30B |
| 10 | PPC | Pilgrim's Pride Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 29.41% | $7.02B |
| 11 | FIZZ | National Beverage Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 28.89% | $2.94B |
| 12 | COST | Costco Wholesale Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 27.77% | $398.46B |
| 13 | BJ | BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 26.30% | $11.66B |
| 14 | KLG | WK Kellogg Co | Consumer Defensive | 24.70% | $1.99B |
| 15 | LAUR | Laureate Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 23.71% | $5.00B |
| 16 | IPAR | Interparfums, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 23.62% | $3.61B |
| 17 | JBS | JBS N.V. | Consumer Defensive | 23.42% | $39.58B |
| 18 | MNST | Monster Beverage Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 23.08% | $86.20B |
| 19 | TGT | Target Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 22.92% | $71.65B |
| 20 | DDL | Dingdong (Cayman) Limited | Consumer Defensive | 22.26% | $0.50B |
| 21 | WMT | Walmart Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 21.98% | $852.40B |
| 22 | NGVC | Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 21.87% | $0.71B |
| 23 | STZ | Constellation Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 20.87% | $20.22B |
| 24 | LRN | Stride, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 20.72% | $3.30B |
| 25 | NUS | Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 19.90% | $0.23B |
| 26 | DEO | Diageo plc | Consumer Defensive | 19.26% | $48.26B |
| 27 | HSY | The Hershey Company | Consumer Defensive | 19.05% | $33.74B |
| 28 | CHD | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 18.41% | $22.48B |
| 29 | MZTI | The Marzetti Company | Consumer Defensive | 18.19% | $2.80B |
| 30 | DG | Dollar General Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 17.77% | $27.01B |
| 31 | CVSA | Covista Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 17.40% | $4.28B |
| 32 | KR | The Kroger Co. | Consumer Defensive | 17.14% | $35.25B |
| 33 | INGR | Ingredion Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 17.06% | $6.12B |
| 34 | ATGE | Adtalem Global Education Inc | Consumer Defensive | 16.54% | $3.40B |
| 35 | JBSS | John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 16.30% | $0.78B |
| 36 | LW | Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 15.89% | $6.50B |
| 37 | USFD | US Foods Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 15.70% | $20.38B |
| 38 | CPB | The Campbell's Company | Consumer Defensive | 15.43% | $5.94B |
| 39 | SFD | Smithfield Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 14.51% | $7.82B |
| 40 | TAL | TAL Education Group | Consumer Defensive | 14.06% | $6.56B |
| 41 | MKC | McCormick & Company, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 13.76% | $13.14B |
| 42 | KVUE | Kenvue Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 13.66% | $33.94B |
| 43 | SAM | The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.93% | $1.76B |
| 44 | OLLI | Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.74% | $4.73B |
| 45 | CALM | Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.03% | $3.39B |
| 46 | CHEF | The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.97% | $4.52B |
| 47 | EDU | New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.92% | $8.78B |
| 48 | PSMT | PriceSmart, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.86% | $5.27B |
| 49 | ACI | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.84% | $5.88B |
| 50 | FRPT | Freshpet, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.51% | $2.95B |
| 51 | VLGEA | Village Super Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.46% | $0.66B |
| 52 | MH | McGraw Hill, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 10.83% | $2.54B |
| 53 | CENT | Central Garden & Pet Company | Consumer Defensive | 10.29% | $2.51B |
| 54 | FMX | Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. | Consumer Defensive | 10.04% | $40.83B |
| 55 | MDLZ | Mondelez International, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.49% | $76.80B |
| 56 | CELH | Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.14% | $7.09B |
| 57 | POST | Post Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.94% | $3.41B |
| 58 | BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Consumer Defensive | 8.67% | $153.49B |
| 59 | KDP | Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.15% | $41.67B |
| 60 | ANDE | The Andersons, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.69% | $2.33B |
| 61 | STRA | Strategic Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.69% | $1.74B |
| 62 | PFGC | Performance Food Group Company | Consumer Defensive | 7.33% | $14.52B |
| 63 | WMK | Weis Markets, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.93% | $1.81B |
| 64 | JJSF | J&J Snack Foods Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 6.79% | $1.46B |
| 65 | FLO | Flowers Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.43% | $1.26B |
| 66 | AVO | Mission Produce, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.42% | $1.12B |
| 67 | HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 6.05% | $11.26B |
| 68 | SMPL | The Simply Good Foods Company | Consumer Defensive | 5.73% | $0.88B |
| 69 | CHSCL | CHS Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.40% | – |
| 70 | SPB | Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.23% | $1.96B |
| 71 | UNFI | United Natural Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.18% | $2.79B |
| 72 | IMKTA | Ingles Markets, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 5.17% | $1.58B |
| 73 | BG | Bunge Global SA | Consumer Defensive | 5.13% | $21.63B |
| 74 | EL | The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.78% | $34.86B |
| 75 | ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Company | Consumer Defensive | 4.74% | $40.19B |
| 76 | DMC | Del Monte Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 4.64% | $1.46B |
| 77 | DOLE | Dole plc | Consumer Defensive | 3.76% | $1.23B |
| 78 | TSN | Tyson Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.62% | $18.30B |
| 79 | ELF | e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.33% | $5.77B |
| 80 | PRMB | Primo Brands Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 2.01% | $7.41B |
| 81 | THS | Treehouse Foods Inc | Consumer Defensive | 1.74% | $1.23B |
| 82 | EPC | Edgewell Personal Care Company | Consumer Defensive | 1.64% | $1.25B |
| 83 | DAR | Darling Ingredients Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 1.33% | $9.98B |
| 84 | DIT | AMCON Distributing Company | Consumer Defensive | 0.50% | $0.07B |
| 85 | UTZ | Utz Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.11% | $1.26B |
| 86 | SPTN | SpartanNash Company | Consumer Defensive | 0.04% | $0.91B |
| 87 | LOPE | Grand Canyon Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.03% | $3.92B |
No companies match this search.
Companies with return on equity above 500%, or shareholder equity below 1% of total assets, are excluded: when equity is near zero the ratio becomes unstable and unrepresentative. Ratio rankings also require at least $1B in annual revenue.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by return on equity 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 500% 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.