Here Are My Top 3 High-Yield Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

By Daniel Foelber – Mar 13, 2026 at 8:05PM ESTKey PointsChevron is the perfect energy stock for long-term investors.UPS is shifting toward leaner operations and higher margins.General Mills is one of the best packaged-food stocks for deep-value investors. From oil briefly crossing $100 a barrel to some of the largest swings in the major indexes in months, some investors may be feeling a bit queasy aboard the 2026 topsy-turvy stock market roller coaster. Generating passive income from stocks is a great way to offset some of the headaches that can come with market volatility. Here are three high-yield dividend stocks for investors to build a passive income portfolio around in March. Image source: Getty Images. 1. Chevron Chevron (CVX 0.08%) is hovering around an all-time high and knocking on the door of $200 a share. But it remains one of the best oil and gas stocks to buy. Chevron checks all the boxes of an energy stock to build a portfolio around. It has 39 consecutive years of boosting its payout and a high yield of 3.8%. It has upside potential from higher oil prices but also protects against downside risk because it can fund its operations, capital expenditures, and dividend expenses below $50 per Brent crude oil barrel. For context, Brent averaged $69.14 in 2025 and is just under $90 per barrel at the time of this writing. ExpandNYSE: CVXChevronToday's Change(-0.08%) $-0.15Current Price$196.82Key Data PointsMarket Cap$393BDay's Range$194.69 - $197.6352wk Range$132.04 - $198.88Volume13MAvg Vol12MGross Margin14.66%Dividend Yield3.51% 2. UPS After a hot start to the year, United Parcel Service (UPS 0.69%) has sold off in recent weeks due to skyrocketing oil prices -- which raise package delivery costs. UPS is up just over 2% in the last decade compared to a 242.5% gain in the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.61%). But UPS could soon turn a corner. The company is undergoing a multiyear turnaround to improve its margins -- including slashing its dependence on low-margin Amazon package deliveries. UPS is streamlining its supply chain and processing network, emphasizing higher-margin deliveries from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and temperature- and time-sensitive healthcare deliveries. In its latest quarter, SMBs made up 31.2% of total U.S. volume -- a fourth-quarter record. Healthcare portfolio revenue reached $11.2 billion or 12.6% of the total 2025 revenue. With a 6.6% yield, UPS offers patient investors considerable passive income while they wait for its turnaround to play out. 3.

General Mills General Mills (GIS 0.01%) hit a 52-week low on March 10 and is now hovering around its lowest level in 13 years. Results have gone from bad to worse, as General Mills slashed its full-year fiscal 2026 guidance amid weak consumer sentiment and higher costs. It can be difficult to buy a stock when earnings are going down with no end in sight.

But General Mills has the makings of a deep-value stock for long-term investors. For starters, its brand portfolio is much better than other packaged food companies' because it specializes in breakfast and has a nice balance between meals and snacks. From PepsiCo's push toward mini meals to Coca-Cola Zero Sugar consistently outperforming Trademark Coca-Cola, many packaged food, beverage, and snack companies have noted changes in consumer preferences and are adapting to cater to health trends. Despite a weak near-term outlook, analyst estimates have General Mills earning $3.51 in fiscal 2026 -- way above its forward dividend of $2.44 per share. Investors can also rest easy knowing that General Mills has a 127-year streak of never cutting its dividend. With a 5.6% yield, General Mills can provide a significant boost to a value investor's passive income stream.Read NextMar 13, 2026 •By Sean WilliamsWarren Buffett Wrapped Up His Illustrious Investing Career by Selling 50% of His Bank of America Stake and Piling Around $1.2 Billion Into This Scorching-Hot Oil StockMar 11, 2026 •By Reuben Gregg BrewerWhere Will Chevron Be in 1 Year?Mar 10, 2026 •By Reuben Gregg BrewerHere's Why Oil Prices Are Surging Right NowMar 7, 2026 •By Bram BerkowitzNew CEO Greg Abel Did Not List 2 of Berkshire Hathaway's Largest Equity Positions as "Core Holdings." Are They on the Chopping Block?Mar 4, 2026 •By Ryan VanzoWarren Buffett Bought 8 Million Shares of This Energy Stock in 2025's Q4: Here's Why 2026 Could Bring Huge ProfitsFeb 27, 2026 •By Daniel FoelberIs Chevron Stock Going to $200?About the AuthorDaniel Foelber is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst with extensive experience covering the broader stock market and publicly traded companies across energy, industrials, utilities, materials, technology, communications, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and financial stocks. Daniel looks for industry leaders offering compelling growth, value, or dividends to generate passive income. He has also written for energy trade publications and helped build oil and gas training modules. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a certificate in personal financial planning from the University of Houston. He believes the best investors are those who focus on fundamentals, remain steady through volatility, and filter out market noise.TMFpalomino2Stocks MentionedChevronNYSE: CVX$196.82(-0.08%)-$0.15S&P 500 IndexSNPINDEX: ^GSPC$6,632.19(-0.61%)-$40.43General MillsNYSE: GIS$39.40(-0.01%)-$0.01United Parcel ServiceNYSE: UPS$97.27(-0.63%)-$0.62AmazonNASDAQ: AMZN$207.70(-0.87%)-$1.83Coca-ColaNYSE: KO$77.30(+0.28%)+$0.22PepsiCoNASDAQ: PEP$159.93(+0.67%)+$1.07*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.