3 Best ASX Dividend Stocks for Passive Income in 2026

The following three ASX stocks have upcoming dividend payments and therefore represent an opportunity for passive income-focused investors to receive the dividend payout by buying shares before their respective ex-dividend dates.

Australian Finance Group Limited (ASX: AFG)

On 20 August 2026 reported that NPAT rose 39% to $49 million in FY2026 while EBITDA increased 32% to $74.4 million. Current market capitalisation is $419 million.

The company expanded its core platform as residential settlements increased 18% to $75 billion while AFG Securities' loan book rose 30% to $7.1 billion and BrokerEngine subscribers grew 19% to 4,400.

AFG's earnings have also become more resilient because around 90% of earnings are supported by existing books and diversified income streams as broker services subscription income grew 13% to $24 million.

The company improved its cost/income ratio to 40% while operating cash flow climbed 42% to $51.1 million and AFG has a constructive FY27 outlook despite softer residential lending activity in the near term as it enters the year with a larger lending book and improved funding plus around $13 million of annualised EBITDA uplift already embedded from recent investments.

The company has announced a fully franked dividend of $0.048 per share with an ex-dividend date of 31 August 2026 and payment on 01 October 2026 which represents a yield of 3.08% while AI investment is expected to improve productivity as well.

Aurizon Holdings Limited (ASX: AZJ)

Had an impressive run in FY2026 as revenue grew 6% year-on-year to $4.19 billion. Another positive aspect is that the underlying EBITDA rose 9% to $1.72 billion and EPS grew 29% to 25.2 cents.

The company also generated $573 million in underlying free cash flow and lifted ROIC to 9.5% from 8.1%. It returned more than $1.8 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks over the past four years. Such actions are a reflection of high focus on shareholder wealth creation.

Aurizon for FY2027 has an expectation that underlying EBITDA will reach $1.725 billion to $1.775 billion and the growth outlook is also supported by more than 60 million tonnes of coal contracts being resigned as well as new Bulk contracts with reliable customers such as BHP.

Aurizon has a current market capitalisation of $6.35 billion and it announced a 90% franked dividend of $0.105 per share with an ex-dividend date of 31 August 2026 and payment on 23 September 2026. Dividend makes up for a yield of 2.785%.

Iress Limited (ASX: IRE)

Reported a solid 1H26 performance as revenue rose 2.5% year-on-year to $250.0 million while recurring revenue increased 3.4% to $237.8 million and Cash EBITDA surged 47.1% to $61.1 million.

Profitability also improved significantly as the Cash EBITDA margin expanded by 742 basis points to 24.5% and underlying EPS rose 24.5% to 20.8 cents backed by the benefits of the business efficiency program.

The company has achieved $31.5 million in annualised cost efficiencies to date and expects another $6 million to $9 million of annualised savings in 2H26 while its current market capitalisation is $1.15 billion.

Iress also announced a fully franked interim dividend of $0.14 per share which is 27.3% higher than the prior corresponding period with an ex-dividend date of 28 August 2026 and payment on 28 September 2026 while its yield is 2.27%.

Iress for FY26 has updated its guidance with revenue expected between $509 million to $515 million and Cash EBITDA between $121 million to $126 million.

(Source: Company Announcements)