Contrarian Ideas: 4 High-Yield Stocks Sold by Institutional Investors

Here we present a list of four high-yield stocks that have seen net selling by institutional investors over the last quarter. These stocks are now rallying, begging the question, "Will the big money managers who have missed out on recent gains get back into these stocks?"

We express net institutional selling as a percent of share float, and rallying stocks are those trading above their 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages.

We also created an equal weighted index of the stocks mentioned below, and monitored the performance of the list relative to the S&P 500 index over the last month. As the chart shows, over the last month the list of stocks mentioned below has steadily outperformed the market average. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here.

Do you think money managers will chase these recent gains? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.

List sorted by net institutional selling as a percent of share float.

1. Lorillard, Inc. (LO): Cigarettes Industry. Market cap of $15.70B. Dividend yield at 4.76%. The stock is currently 5.16% above its 20-day moving average, 15.83% above its 50-day MA, and 32.43% above its 200-day MA. Net institutional shares sold over the current quarter at 5.6M, which is 3.90% of the company's 143.44M share float. Current ratio at 1.66 and quick ratio at 1.5. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 8.17% (equivalent to 5.13 days of average volume).

2. Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc. (AEA): Credit Services Industry. Market cap of $376.41M. Dividend yield at 4.14%. The stock is currently 8.36% above its 20-day moving average, 11.91% above its 50-day MA, and 19.70% above its 200-day MA. Net institutional shares sold over the current quarter at 1.6M, which is 3.41% of the company's 46.86M share float. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 3.03). The stock might be undervalued at current levels, with a PEG ratio at 0.69, and P/FCF ratio at 3.4.

3. Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. (CHT): Telecom Services Industry. Market cap of $31.15B. Dividend yield at 4.93%. The stock is currently 2.11% above its 20-day moving average, 4.67% above its 50-day MA, and 24.03% above its 200-day MA. Net institutional shares sold over the current quarter at 7.6M, which is 1.58% of the company's 479.95M share float. CHT appears to have good liquidity to back up its dividend -- current ratio at 2.22 and quick ratio at 2.11. The stock has gained 77.13% over the last year.

4. Duke Realty Corp. (DRE): REIT. Market cap of $3.80B. Dividend yield at 4.52%. The stock is currently 3.63% above its 20-day moving average, 8.03% above its 50-day MA, and 22.58% above its 200-day MA. Net institutional shares sold over the current quarter at 1.4M, which is 0.56% of the company's 251.60M share float. The stock has had a good month, gaining 10.25%.

*Institutional data sourced from Fidelity, dividend yield and all other data sourced from Finviz.

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