Hello, Thanks for signing up for MarketBeat Daily Ratings—we’re excited to have you on board. Every weekday, you’ll get a curated summary of new “Buy” and “Sell” ratings from Wall Street’s top-rated analysts, the latest stock news, and bonus investing content—all delivered straight to your inbox. You’re just two quick steps away from completing your sign-up: 1. Make sure our emails go to your inbox Gmail users:
Mobile: Tap the three dots (…) in the top right and select Move to Inbox or Move to Primary
Desktop: Click the folder icon at the top and select Move to Inbox or Primary Apple Mail users:
Tap our email address at the top (next to From: on mobile), then select Add to VIP Other providers:
Reply to this message and add newsletters@analystratings.net to your contacts 2. Confirm your subscription Click this link to confirm your subscription. This verifies your account and ensures you receive your newsletters without interruption instead of getting stuck in your spam filter. Confirm your subscription here. After you confirm, feel free to download our popular free report, "7 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever" with this link. Thanks again for subscribing—we look forward to being part of your investing journey. 
Matthew Paulson
Founder and CEO, MarketBeat. P.S. If you didn’t mean to subscribe, no problem—you can unsubscribe here.
Additional Reading from MarketBeat.com 3 Dividend-Backed Consumer Staples to Reinforce Your PortfolioAuthor: Dan Schmidt. Date Posted: 1/26/2026. 
Quick Look - Consumer staples stocks offer capital preservation, low volatility, and reliable dividend income during uncertain markets.
- Waste Management, British American Tobacco, and Service Corporation International each serve inelastic demand niches with strong dividend profiles.
- Technical setups across all three stocks suggest potential upside, reinforcing their appeal as defensive investments.
The best offense is sometimes a good defense, and that’s especially true when markets turn volatile. Defensive stocks can help preserve capital in a declining market by limiting losses and supplementing portfolios with dividend income. Some sectors offer better protection than others, and today we’ll look at one common defensive sector: consumer staples. Consumer Staples Stocks Can Protect Capital in Volatile Markets Most investors think of gold or U.S. Treasuries when talking about safe-haven assets, but you don’t always need to exit the stock market to protect capital. Some sectors are less volatile, some provide dividend income as well as potential equity appreciation, and some offer a combination of both—such as consumer staples. Consumer staples are considered a ‘safe’ sector because they comprise companies that sell necessities rather than discretionary goods. Consumers buy items like groceries and toiletries consistently, which limits upside but delivers predictable, reliable revenue. Other factors that make staples a popular choice during turbulent markets include: - Steady Dividend Income - Predictable revenue often leads to reliable profits, and many staples companies return those profits to shareholders as dividends. Reliable earnings are key to dividend safety, and consumer staples stocks are rarely at risk of dividend cuts.
- Pricing Power - The ability to pass rising costs on to consumers is crucial in an era of tariffs and inflation. Consumer staples can more easily pass through costs because there’s little room to ‘trade down’ for life’s necessities. A family can choose takeout instead of dining at a steakhouse, but they can’t forgo toilet paper, toothpaste, or soap.
- Low Beta - Beta measures a stock’s volatility relative to a broader index. Low-beta stocks are less volatile than the market and are what institutional investors often seek when turbulence hits. Consumer staples frequently provide relief from market swings, helping to preserve investor capital during steep drawdowns.
3 Consumer Staples With Inelastic Product Demand The three stocks below all sell products or services with inelastic demand, though they aren’t the typical grocery-store items you might expect. Each company has a strong position in its niche, offering steady income and attractive dividends. Waste Management: Strong Dividend and Irreplaceable Infrastructure Whoever coined the phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” probably didn’t have literal trash in mind, but Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) relies on households and businesses throwing away tons of material every week. Waste Management’s moat isn’t just trash removal as an essential service; it’s the company’s extensive network of landfills, which gives it near-monopoly positions in many local markets. Environmental regulations make landfill permitting difficult and time-consuming, so Waste Management’s market share is as secure as its dividend, which carries a 52% dividend payout ratio (DPR) and a 22-year history of annual increases. WM shares are also in the midst of a breakout, with the price surpassing the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) for the first time since last September. The bullish trend began in November when the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) produced a bullish cross; a second cross has since confirmed the next leg of the rally. 
British American Tobacco: Deep Value With Premium Dividend Cigarette smoking may be in secular decline, but British American Tobacco plc (NYSE: BTI)’s shift toward smokeless products like e-cigarettes, vapes, and nicotine pouches has helped reinvigorate U.S. revenue. As with most tobacco companies, the primary appeal is the dividend: BTI currently yields over 5% with a 63% DPR. The company has raised payouts for 19 straight years, and the stock often behaves like a bond during strong bull markets because of its low growth rate. BTI shares have returned nearly 60% over the past 12 months; after a period of consolidation the stock could be ready for another move higher. A bullish wedge has formed on the chart, with the upper bound acting as resistance near the prior all-time high and the lower bound producing higher lows. Typically, a new uptrend begins when the price breaks above that upper boundary; the MACD and Relative Strength Index (RSI) are signaling that bullish momentum is building. 
Service Corporation International: A Necessary Service That Can’t Be Outsourced Here’s a company where clients often don’t realize when they’re using the service. Service Corporation International Inc. (NYSE: SCI) is the largest provider of funeral and cemetery services in North America, servicing an aging population and the related demographic realities. Service Corp accepts payment upfront for future funeral and burial arrangements, as many customers prefer to prepay to relieve their loved ones of the burden. Prepayments allow the company to build a sizable pool of capital that can be invested in interest-bearing vehicles. SCI’s cash position supports a healthy dividend—currently yielding 1.68% with a 36.7% DPR. The dividend has grown at a 10.57% annualized rate over the past five years, and the company has raised payouts for 15 consecutive years. During its Q3 earnings report, management also raised 2025 cash flow guidance to the $915 million–$950 million range, which should help support further increases. Companies like SCI typically don’t deliver outsized stock returns. Still, modest capital appreciation on top of a steady dividend is attractive in volatile markets, and the chart shows promise. The RSI bounced off the oversold level in December and has trended higher since; the share price has now broken through the 50-day and 200-day SMAs for the first time since late October. 
| 
Post a Comment
Post a Comment