3 Dividend Stocks Yielding 3% or More to Buy Right Now for Passive Income

Forget the flashy AI names for a second and look at your own kitchen counter. There's a decent chance a box of tissues, a can of something salty, and a sleeve of cookies are sitting on it right now, and all three were likely made by companies that pay you to own their shares. That's the pitch behind these three dividend stocks: Nothing about them will make for exciting cocktail party conversation, but each one yields at least 3%, and those payouts are backed by businesses selling the sorts of products that people regularly restock for their homes without thinking twice.

The tissue box: Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ: KMB), the company behind Kleenex, Scott, and Cottonelle, did something unusual this year: It got smaller on purpose. In July, it created a joint venture with Brazilian paper giant Suzano, handing over majority control of its international tissue business in exchange for a $1.73 billion cash payment. What's left is a simpler, more North America-focused company.

The company trimmed down to focus on what actually makes it money here at home. It reported $16.4 billion in revenue in 2025, down 2.1% year over year, but still generated around $2 billion in net income. At the current stock price, Kimberly-Clark yields roughly 4.7%, and given how much cash it just raised by selling off a chunk of itself, it should have plenty of breathing room to keep up its distributions.

The pantry staple: Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) owns brands such as Spam, Skippy, and Applegate Farms, and this year it's been doing more with Spam than you'd expect from a shelf-stable canned meat: debuting a Hot Honey flavor made with a Brooklyn bakery, a chicken version launched overseas, even a "Spam Dog." It may seem a little silly, but that's sort of the point; Hormel is trying to make a decades-old product feel current again rather than just riding on nostalgia.

The company also just handed the CEO job to John Ghingo, who is talking about sharper branding and more premium products across the portfolio, according to trade publication Food Dive. The yield here is north of 5%, but I'd flag one real catch: On a reported basis, Hormel's has recently been distributing more via dividends than the company actually earned, largely because of non-cash impairment charges weighing on the bottom line. Strip out those one-time hits and the dividend looks comfortably covered, but it's still an issue one shouldn't ignore.

The cookie aisle: Mondelez

Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ), the company behind Oreo, Cadbury, and Ritz, has spent the past few years attempting to navigate through a market where cocoa prices at one point tripled. Rather than keep jacking up prices across the board -- a strategy that was starting to push shoppers away, especially in Europe -- the company has shifted toward smaller package sizes, premium lines, and new product formats in a bid to manage its higher costs without losing customers outright. Cocoa prices have actually come down from their 2025 peaks, but Mondelez locked in higher costs through hedging contracts months ago, so that relief hasn't hit its bottom line yet. Management expects that to change as 2027 approaches. The stock yields a little above 3%, the lowest of the three, but it's also the steadiest of the bunch right now.

The common thread

None of these three companies is going to double your money next year. What they have in common is that each one is quietly adjusting its business -- Kimberly-Clark by shrinking strategically, Hormel by trying to make old brands feel new, and Mondelez by managing its way through a brutal input cost spike. And all of them are doing these things while still writing their dividend checks on time.

That combination -- a business actively working on itself plus a payout that keeps showing up -- is what I look for in an income stock. There are no guarantees that any of these three will keep raising their dividends forever. But investing in the companies whose products already sit in your pantry and bathroom cabinet is about as low-drama a way to collect passive income as it gets.

Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.