Top Consumer Staples Stocks for June 2022

The consumer staples sector is composed of companies that produce and sell items considered essential for everyday use. Consumer staples products include household goods, food, beverages, hygiene products, and other items that individuals are either unwilling or unable to eliminate from their budgets even in times of financial trouble. As a result, these companies are viewed as noncyclical and able to maintain stable growth regardless of the state of the economy. Some of the big names in the sector include The Procter & Gamble Co., The Coca-Cola Co., and General Mills Inc.

Consumer staples stocks, as represented by an exchange-traded fund (ETF)—the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP)—have outperformed the broader market over the past year. XLP has provided investors with a total return of 2.0% over the past 12 months, above the Russell 1000’s total return of -7.0%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of May 20, 2022.

Here are the top three consumer staples stocks with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

Best Value Consumer Staples Stocks

These are the consumer staples stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows that you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

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• Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.: Herbalife Nutrition is a global nutrition company. It offers weight management products and healthy meals and snacks, as well as sports and fitness, energy, and other targeted nutritional products. It also sells personal care products. In March 2022, Herbalife announced that it was suspending operations at all of its 62 sales centers in Russia and would halt shipment of products to the country in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Tyson Foods Inc.: Tyson Foods produces a range of frozen and refrigerated beef, pork, chicken, and other food products. The company’s operations include breeding stock, contract farmers, feed production, processing, marketing, and transportation.
• Bunge Ltd.: Bunge is a global agribusiness and food company. It supplies and transports agricultural commodities, including sugar, ethanol, wheat, and corn. The company also processes oilseeds and grains. In early May 2022, Bunge announced that one of its subsidiaries was partnering with a subsidiary of Chevron Corp. in creating a joint venture (JV) company named Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables LLC. The company will develop renewable fuel feedstocks.
  

Fastest Growing Consumer Staples Stocks

These are the top consumer staples stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly year-over-year (YOY) percentage revenue growth and most recent quarterly YOY earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore, ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one figure or the other unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of more than 2,500% were excluded as outliers.

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• Sysco Corp.: Sysco sells and distributes food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments, and other customers. It also provides equipment and supplies to the food service and hospitality industries. In late April 2022, the company announced that its board of directors has approved an increase of its quarterly cash dividend to $0.49 per share from $0.47 per share. The dividend will be payable on July 22, 2022, to common stockholders of record as of July 1, 2022.
• Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.: Pilgrim’s Pride operates protein processing plants and prepared-food facilities throughout the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and continental Europe. It distributes its products through retailers and foodservice distributors.
• Darling Ingredients Inc.: Darling Ingredients is a producer of sustainable natural ingredients from food waste as well as a producer of renewable energy. The company transforms meat industry waste into products such as green energy, renewable diesel, collagen, fertilizer, animal proteins and meals, and pet food ingredients. In early May 2022, Darling announced that it has agreed to acquire FASA Group, Brazil’s largest independent rendering company, for approximately $2.8 billion Brazilian real ($560 million).

Consumer Staples Stocks with the Most Momentum

These are the consumer staples stocks that had the highest total return over the past 12 months.

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• Albertsons Companies Inc.: Albertsons Companies is a grocery store company that operates food and drug retail stores. It offers groceries, general merchandise, health and beauty care products, pharmacy, fuel, and other items and services.
• The Kroger Co.: The Kroger Co. operates a chain of grocery stores throughout the U.S. It also operates supermarkets, digital shopping platforms, price-impact warehouse stores, and multi-department stores. It sells groceries, apparel, and other general merchandise. The company also operates food production facilities.
• Bunge Ltd.: See above for company description.

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