The best household and personal care stocks tend to have well-known brands and reliably pay dividends. As consumer staples companies, they sell products that people keep buying regardless of how the economy is faring. Consumers generally treat household and personal care products as necessities rather than as discretionary items.
Top household and personal care stocks
Top household and personal care stocks in 2025
| Company | Ticker | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Procter & Gamble | (NYSE:PG) | Diversified household products seller and owner of brands such as Gillette, Tide, and Pampers. |
| Ulta Beauty | (NASDAQ:ULTA) | Beauty products retailer and operator of salons. |
| Church & Dwight | (NYSE:CHD) | Household products company that owns brands such as Arm & Hammer, OxiClean, and Trojan. |
| Unilever | (NYSE:UL) (NYSE:UN) | Large household products company and owner of Hellmann’s, Ben and Jerry’s, and other brands. |
| Clorox | (NYSE:CLX) | Maker of its namesake cleaning products, Glad trash bags, and Kingsford charcoal. |
1. Procter & Gamble
1. Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is probably the best-known household products company in the world. P&G has been around for almost 200 years and owns more than 20 billion-dollar brands, including Tide, Crest, and Bounty. The company benefits from a huge distribution network and relationships with a wide range of retailers and other end sellers. It's also one of the largest advertisers in the world.
With diversification across multiple categories, including health, beauty, grooming, and cleaning products, Procter & Gamble is well positioned to perform strongly on a consistent basis. It's also a Dividend Achiever, having raised its dividend every year for 68 consecutive years, and it's paid a dividend for 134 consecutive years. P&G's dividend yield at the time of this writing is an attractive 2.3%.
2. Ulta Beauty
2. Ulta Beauty
Ulta Beauty has been one of the biggest winners in the beauty sector over its history, going from a small chain to a dominant national beauty retailer with almost 1,500 locations.
Ulta stocks more than 600 different beauty brands, ranging across every category, and most stores have a salon, helping to drive to physical locations.
Ulta has also partnered with Target to add more than 100 shop-in-stores as well, and the stock has even attracted the attention of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.71%)(BRK.B -0.47%), which scooped up shares at a discount in the second quarter.
3. Church & Dwight
3. Church & Dwight
Church & Dwight is smaller than many of its peers, but the company has delivered a strong return on invested capital without deviating from its focus on personal care and household goods.
The company's portfolio of products is among the most stable in the industry, and sales of many of its products increased during the pandemic. The company has been expanding the types of products offered by its well-known brands, such as Arm & Hammer. It also owns other top brands, including Trojan, OxiClean, and Orajel.
Church & Dwight increased its organic revenue last year (revenue not accrued through acquisition) year over year by 5.3% and is expecting to continue to increase its organic revenue by 4% to 5% year over year in 2024. The company in 2024 is forecasting that its earnings per share will increase by 7% to 9%.
4. Unilever
4. Unilever
Unilever owns a sprawling assortment of household and personal care brands, including the popular supermarket and drugstore brands Dove, Vaseline, and Magnum Ice Cream. The company is planning to spin off its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry's and Magnum, by the end of 2025.
Unilever is generally more aggressive about acquiring and selling companies than its competitors. In 2016, the company acquired both the direct-to-consumer Dollar Shave Club and Seventh Generation, a sustainable cleaning products brand. It's currently aiming to make acquisitions in the plant-based foods category, and it sold off its global tea business, including Lipton, in 2022.
Unilever's organic sales rose by 7% in 2023. The company's dividend yield at the time of this writing is a noteworthy 2.8%.
5. Clorox
5. Clorox
Clorox is another household product company with a number of brands, including Glad, Burt's Bees, Kingsford, and Tilex that can deliver results in good times and bad.
Over the long term, the company's "IGNITE" strategy is focused on accelerating long-term growth through innovation, cost savings, and portfolio expansion. Revenue fell in fiscal 2024, which ended in June 2024, but the company still managed to deliver solid profit growth through lower manufacturing and logistics costs and cost savings initiatives.
Clorox's 3% dividend yield, in addition, makes this stock a solid choice for income investors.
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What to know about household and personal care stocks
The emergence of e-commerce has made it easier to launch new household and personal care brands, and while the industry is seeing innovation in a number of sectors, successful new companies such as Dollar Shave Club generally get acquired by one of the leading household and personal care companies. Over the long term, the advantages these legacy companies enjoy tend to only get stronger. The brand recognition, distribution networks, and marketing power of the top household and personal care companies are difficult to match.
For investors, household and personal care companies have low stock price volatility and pay reliable dividends. If you’re looking for defensive consumer staples stocks that can deliver attractive long-term growth, then investing in these household and personal care companies may be a good choice for you.
