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| By Gavin Magor |
Defensive sectors offer more relative stability for investors in turbulent times. But one sector has outperformed all others during economic downturns — consumer staples.
And the reason is simple: Staples aren’t products people want — they’re products people need.
We did some digging to unearth staple stocks with strong returns, solid dividends and attractive valuations that can help protect your wealth as the market trembles.
Search for Safety
The consumer staples sector has historically been the strongest sector in downturns for one key reason: People don’t stop buying toothpaste, toilet paper or canned soup when the market tanks.
These are non-discretionary goods most consumers can’t live without. Unlike luxury items, staples demand remains relatively steady — even when economic growth slows.
Staples outperformed all other sectors on average in the last seven recessions (excluding the two-month COVID downturn).
In fact, it’s the only sector with positive average returns during contraction periods, as the graph below shows.
This trend is once again apparent here in 2025.
Staples have led all sectors so far this year, followed by utilities, as consumer discretionary and tech stocks got hammered by more than double digits.
We expect this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
So today, we’ll look at some high-performing staples stocks with low volatility, stability and consistent returns.
Not just for shelter during the storm. But also for beating the market as well.
Weiss Ratings’ Current Favorite Staples
Every stock on our list, pictured below, has a “Buy” rating.
This means the stock has a good risk/reward balance and solid prospects for future outperformance, according to our proprietary stock rating models.
This is based on a stock’s long-term total return to shareholders, along with a collective assessment of the company’s profitability, growth, valuation and other fundamentals.
In addition, we picked U.S. stocks with a domestic focus. So, these are companies with reduced exposure to tariffs due to not being heavily reliant on imports and exports.
I want to shine a light on three of our highest rated staples stocks. They all have great momentum, regular dividends and attractive per-share prices.
Village Super Market (VLGEA), topping our list with an A- investment rating, is up more than 15% in the last 30 days.
It was added to the Safe Money Report portfolio back in August exactly for its defensive properties. And it’s already up more than 30% for our members.
The operator of ShopRite, Fairway and Gourmet Garage supermarkets, VLGEA delivers stable revenue and a dividend yield of 2.8%.
This grocer has crushed the sector and market in the past three years. And yet, it trades at a 55% discount to the sector based on its low P/E of 9.8x.
Village is just one staple that shines. Here’s another.
Altria Group (MO) another Safe Money play, held since last June and is up 36%.
It also offers a hefty 7.21% dividend yield — more than 130% above the sector median. The tobacco giant has delivered 55 consecutive years of dividend growth, proving that even in hard times, demand for certain habits does not fade.
MO is trading at an attractive 8.6x earnings, 60% below the sector median.
Staples aren’t just the necessities we buy. They are also the items that go into the making of them.
Ingredion (INGR) makes sweeteners, nutrition ingredients, along with industrial starches.
It is a profit and cash-flow generating machine with a return on equity of 17% and a levered free cash flow margin of almost 15%.
INGR beat earnings expectations for six quarters straight and has paid out a dividend for 20 consecutive years.
In these three examples, the stocks’ shelf lives have outlasted even the products they make and/or sell!
And there are many more just like them. You just need to know where to look to discover them.
Perhaps the Most Powerful Way You Can Defend Your Portfolio
It’s impossible to predict where markets are headed next.
But with escalating global trade tensions and headline-driven volatility, one thing is certain …
Consumer staples stocks are built to go up when times are good. And to survive and even outperform during downturns.
But while it’s true that staples have provided stability, income and safety in a tough economic environment as tech and communication stocks plunge …
Some staples are sturdier than others. For example, you saw the orange line that represented the Consumer Staples SPDR in the chart above.
The industry, as represented by that ETF, only gained 10% in the past three years vs. Village’s more than 60% gain.
With Weiss Ratings Plus, you can not only see the staples stocks that have earned a “Buy” rating from Weiss Ratings (like the standouts we highlighted in this article) …
But you can also tap into our massive, real-time dataset to find the next round of potential winners in this or any industry!
To start putting the ultimate data-powered investing tool to work for your own portfolio, you’ll need to click here.
In case you missed Sunday’s email from Dallas Brown, Publisher of Weiss Ratings, we’ve made some big changes to our website and how deep you can dive into our full ratings.
Starting today, Weiss Ratings Plus is the only way you can get that access … along with instant “Buy” and “Sell” alerts, unique stock screeners, a customizable Stock Ratings Analyst … and much more.
Remember, this is America’s No. 1 stock ratings system that has called every major financial event of the 21st century. And it is now signaling something big. Check it out here.
Cheers!
Gavin Magor
