Contrarian Ideas: 6 Dividend Champions Being Sold by the Smart Money

The following is a list of “dividend champions” - companies that have increased dividend payouts for more than 25 consecutive years. Additionally, all these stocks have seen net institutional selling over the last two quarters.

Given the history of these names and the apparent negative sentiment from institutional investors, which of these stocks do you think is being underestimated? Click for expanded images:



1. Universal Corp. (UVV): Tobacco Products Industry. Market cap of $997.05M. Dividend yield at 4.52%. On a net basis, institutional investors sold -867.1K shares during the current quarter and -502.8K shares during the previous quarter. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 12.23% (equivalent to 11.13 days of average volume). It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 6.06% over the last week.

2. Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT): REIT. Market cap of $5.04B. Dividend yield at 3.3%. On a net basis, institutional investors sold -116.9K shares during the current quarter and -531.5K shares during the previous quarter. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 5.39% (equivalent to 8.32 days of average volume). The stock has gained 13.95% over the last year. Click for expanded image:



3. Brady Corp. (BRC): Technical Services Industry. Market cap of $1.90B. Dividend yield at 2.0%. On a net basis, institutional investors sold -542.1K shares during the current quarter and -490.2K shares during the previous quarter. The stock has gained 10.84% over the last year. Click for expanded image:



4. Stepan Company (SCL): Cleaning Products Industry. Market cap of $772.06M. Dividend yield at 1.45%. On a net basis, institutional investors sold -157.1K shares during the current quarter and -54.3K shares during the previous quarter. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 7.3% (equivalent to 19.39 days of average volume). The stock has gained 18.28% over the last year. Click for expanded image:



5. CLARCOR Inc. (CLC): Auto Parts Industry. Market cap of $2.18B. Dividend yield at 0.97%. On a net basis, institutional investors sold -182.0K shares during the current quarter and -487.5K shares during the previous quarter. The stock has gained 22.77% over the last year.

6. Wesco Financial Corp. (WSC): Rental & Leasing Services Industry. Market cap of $2.77B. Dividend yield at 0.43%. On a net basis, institutional investors sold -6.8K shares during the current quarter and -9.1K shares during the previous quarter. Relatively low correlation to the market (beta = 0.62), which may be appealing to risk averse investors. The stock has lost 0.12% over the last year.

*Institutional flows sourced from Fidelity, all other sourced from Finviz.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.