3 High-Yield Dividends Stocks To Buy Now And Forget About

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Realty Income (O) yields 5% and raised its monthly dividend to $0.2705/share. EPR Properties (EPR) yields 6.37% with Q4 FFO of $1.30 in-line and 2026 guidance of $5.28–$5.48/share. Verizon (VZ) yields 5.6%, beat Q4 EPS by $0.03, and raised its dividend 2.5% to $0.7075/share
High-yielding dividend stocks like Realty Income, EPR Properties, and Verizon are outperforming in a volatile market, offering investors both passive income and portfolio stability as the S&P 500 trades down 3% year to date
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By Ian Cooper Published Mar 13, 10:45AM EDT

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3 High-Yield Dividends Stocks To Buy Now And Forget About — © Michail Petrov / Shutterstock.com

One of the best ways to keep your portfolio safe is with high-yielding stocks.

Not only do they help generate passive income, but they also act as defensive, stable investments during times of massive volatility – as we’re seeing now. Look at dividend-focused ETFs like the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM), for example.

Year to date, it’s outperforming the S&P 500.

In fact, since the year began, the S&P 500 is down 3%, as compared to the year to date 3% returns on the VYM ETF. It also remains one of the best ways to trade dividend growth.

With an expense ratio of 0.04%, the VYM ETF tracks the performance of the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index, and currently holds 562 stocks, including Broadcom, JPMorgan, Exxon Mobil, Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson. The VYM ETF also carries a yield of 2.29% and pays a quarterly dividend. On September 23, it paid a dividend of just over 94 cents. On September 23, it paid out just over 84 cents. And on June 24, it paid out just over 86 cents a share.

However, if you’re not interested in ETFs, here are three of the top high-yielding dividend stocks to buy now and forget about.

Realty Income

Known as “The Monthly Dividend Company,” Realty Income (NYSE: O) yields about 5%. It also just increased its monthly cash dividend to $0.2705 per share from $0.270 per share. The dividend is payable on April 15, 2026, to stockholders of record as of March 31, 2026. The new monthly dividend represents an annualized dividend amount of $3.246 per share as compared to the prior annualized dividend amount of $3.240 per share.

Making it even more attractive, Realty Income is one of the biggest lease real estate investment trusts (REITs) you can buy. It also owns more than 15,600 properties, with a vast majority of those in the retail sector. In fact, some of its biggest tenants include 7-Eleven, Dollar General, Walgreens, Wynn Resorts, FedEx, BJ’s Wholesale Club, CVS, and Tractor Supply.

And, as noted by Sumit Roy, President and CEO, in his earnings press release, “Our fourth quarter investment volume of $2.4 billion represents a meaningful acceleration in activity, and our active pipeline for 2026 is reflected in our initial investment volume guidance of approximately $8.0 billion. In concert with healthy portfolio occupancy and underlying tenant credit, we are introducing 2026 AFFO per share guidance of $4.38 – $4.42, representing annual growth of approximately 2.8% at the midpoint and approximately 9% total operational return.”

EPR Properties

There’s also EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR), which yields 6.37% and invests in amusement parks, movie theaters, ski resorts, and other entertainment properties. It’s about to pay a dividend of $0.295 on March 16, 2026, to shareholders of record on February 27, 2026. This dividend represents an annualized dividend of $3.54 per common share.

Earnings have also been strong. Fourth quarter funds from operations (FFO) of $1.30 was in-line with expectations. Revenue of $182.95 million, up 3.2% year over year, beat by $1.01 million. The company also introduced 2026 FFO guidance of $5.28 to $5.48 a share. The midpoint of $5.38 is above analyst expectations of $5.30.

Better, analysts at RBC Capital just raised their price target on EPR to $59 a share. “RBC Capital believes EPR Properties could deploy capital as aggressively as its cost of capital allows. The REIT offers a 6.46% dividend yield and has maintained dividend payments for 30 consecutive years,” as noted by Investing.com.

Verizon

With a yield of about 5.6%, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is another hot, high-yielding stock to buy and forget about for a while. It also declared a dividend of $0.7075, a 2.5% increase from its prior dividend of $0.69. It’s payable on May 1 to shareholders of record as of April 10.

Recent earnings and guidance were also solid. For the fourth quarter, EPS of $1.09 beat by three cents. Revenue of $36.4 billion, up 2.4% year over year, beat by $200 million. In the quarter, the company also saw total postpaid phone net additions of 616,000, up 22% and ahead of estimates of 420,491. For 2026, Verizon expects total retail postpaid phone net additions of 750,000 to a million and adjusted EPS of $4.90 to $4.95, or growth of 4% to 5%.

Helping, analysts at Raymond James raised its price target on Verizon to $56 from $50 with an outperform rating. Analysts at Scotiabank also upgraded Verizon to sector outperform from sector perform with a price target of $54.50 a share from $50.25 a share, citing cost-cutting.