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Top Consumer Defensive Stocks by Share Buybacks

Top consumer defensive companies ranked by share buybacks, latest annual filings.

What Share Buybacks Mean for Consumer Defensive Companies

Share buybacks in consumer defensive sit alongside a substantial dividend as the standard capital-return package. Staples firms generate predictable cash flow through the full economic cycle, and once brand investment and modest capacity needs are funded, surplus capital tends to flow back to shareholders through both channels simultaneously. Programmatic buybacks, executed on a steady schedule rather than opportunistically in response to valuation windows, are the sector norm.

Why It Matters in Consumer Defensive

Steady buyback programs reflect reliable cash conversion from mature brand portfolios. Because growth investment needs are modest, repurchases become a natural complement to the dividend. The caveat is limited valuation flexibility: staples tend to trade in a narrow multiple range, so buybacks rarely capture deep value and their per-share impact is driven more by consistency than by opportunistic timing. The story is one of steady compounding rather than tactical windows.

What to Read Alongside

Pair buybacks with Free Cash Flow to confirm funding capacity through input-cost cycles, Net Income for earnings context, and Gross Margin to see whether pricing power is supporting the capital return.

Data as of FY 2025 81 companies Rhea AI
# Symbol Company Sector
1 WMT Walmart Inc. Consumer Defensive $8.09B $852.40B
2 PG The Procter & Gamble Company Consumer Defensive $5.03B $339.30B
3 KR The Kroger Co. Consumer Defensive $2.70B $35.25B
4 COKE Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. Consumer Defensive $2.61B $12.64B
5 BUD Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Consumer Defensive $2.60B $153.49B
6 MDLZ Mondelez International, Inc. Consumer Defensive $2.38B $76.80B
7 DLTR Dollar Tree, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.55B $21.08B
8 ACI Albertsons Companies, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.48B $5.88B
9 CL Colgate-Palmolive Company Consumer Defensive $1.21B $68.76B
10 MO Altria Group, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.00B $114.43B
11 PEP PepsiCo, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.00B $176.88B
12 USFD US Foods Holding Corp. Consumer Defensive $0.93B $20.38B
13 STZ Constellation Brands, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.92B $20.22B
14 COST Costco Wholesale Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.90B $398.46B
15 CHD Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.90B $22.48B
16 KO The Coca-Cola Company Consumer Defensive $0.75B $374.84B
17 POST Post Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.71B $3.41B
18 TAP Molson Coors Beverage Company Consumer Defensive $0.65B $7.00B
19 TAL TAL Education Group Consumer Defensive $0.64B $6.56B
20 BG Bunge Global SA Consumer Defensive $0.55B $21.63B
21 GIS General Mills, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.50B $18.93B
22 BRBR BellRing Brands, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.47B $1.04B
23 SFM Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.47B $6.40B
24 KHC The Kraft Heinz Company Consumer Defensive $0.44B $28.90B
25 PRMB Primo Brands Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.42B $7.41B
26 TGT Target Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.41B $71.65B
27 CLX The Clorox Company Consumer Defensive $0.33B $10.26B
28 SPB Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.33B $1.96B
29 BJ BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.29B $11.66B
30 LOPE Grand Canyon Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.26B $3.92B
31 CVSA Covista Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.24B $4.28B
32 EDU New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.23B $8.78B
33 LAUR Laureate Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.22B $5.00B
34 ATGE Adtalem Global Education Inc Consumer Defensive $0.21B $3.40B
35 SAM The Boston Beer Company, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.20B $1.76B
36 SYY Sysco Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.20B $37.61B
37 KVUE Kenvue Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.20B $33.94B
38 LRN Stride, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.19B $3.30B
39 CENT Central Garden & Pet Company Consumer Defensive $0.16B $2.51B
40 THS Treehouse Foods Inc Consumer Defensive $0.15B $1.23B
41 KMB Kimberly-Clark Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.14B $32.51B
42 WMK Weis Markets, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.14B $1.81B
43 STRA Strategic Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.14B $1.74B
44 PRDO Perdoceo Education Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.12B $2.02B
45 MNST Monster Beverage Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.10B $86.20B
46 EPC Edgewell Personal Care Company Consumer Defensive $0.09B $1.25B
47 OLLI Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.07B $4.73B
48 EL The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.07B $34.86B
49 CPB The Campbell's Company Consumer Defensive $0.06B $5.94B
50 UDMY Udemy, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.05B $0.68B
51 SMPL The Simply Good Foods Company Consumer Defensive $0.05B $0.88B
52 UNFI United Natural Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.05B $2.79B
53 ELF e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.05B $5.77B
54 GOTU Gaotu Techedu Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.05B $0.52B
55 MZTI The Marzetti Company Consumer Defensive $0.04B $2.80B
56 MKC McCormick & Company, Incorporated Consumer Defensive $0.03B $13.14B
57 DAR Darling Ingredients Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.03B $9.98B
58 DMC Del Monte Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.03B $1.46B
59 RLX RLX Technology Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.03B $2.10B
60 AGRO Adecoagro S.A. Consumer Defensive $0.02B $1.61B
61 ANDE The Andersons, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.02B $2.33B
62 CAG Conagra Brands, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.02B $7.26B
63 CHEF The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.02B $4.52B
64 SPTN SpartanNash Company Consumer Defensive $0.01B $0.91B
65 IPAR Interparfums, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $3.61B
66 COCO The Vita Coco Company, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $3.31B
67 KDP Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $41.67B
68 HLF Herbalife Ltd. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $1.25B
69 JJSF J&J Snack Foods Corp. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $1.46B
70 PSMT PriceSmart, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $5.27B
71 TR Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $2.80B
72 AVO Mission Produce, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $1.12B
73 CELH Celsius Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $7.09B
74 SJM The J. M. Smucker Company Consumer Defensive $0.01B $12.81B
75 FLO Flowers Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $1.26B
76 APEI American Public Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.00B $0.79B
77 HELE Helen of Troy Limited Consumer Defensive $0.00B $0.64B
78 PFGC Performance Food Group Company Consumer Defensive $0.00B $14.52B
79 DNUT Krispy Kreme, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.00B $0.52B
80 STKL SunOpta Inc Consumer Defensive $0.00B $0.77B
81 FIZZ National Beverage Corp. Consumer Defensive $0.00B $2.94B

How this ranking is built

Companies are ranked by share buybacks 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 $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
  • Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
  • Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
  • 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.