We continue to look for dividend stocks that can be part of a long term investment portfolio. With continued market turbulence and the Euro crisis far from over, having stable companies with strong dividends is a useful backup for those who want income as well as growth. Danny Guttridge from Kapital.com sought out companies with good yields and that have seen insider purchases over the past six months. I want to evaluate what sort of stocks this leads to and whether they would be worth considering.

The list is sorted by market cap.

• Whirlpool Corp. (WHR): Engages in the manufacture and marketing of home appliances worldwide. Market cap at $4.96B.Dividend yield at 3.10%, payout ratio at 37.95%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 15,500 shares, which represents about 0.02% of the 75.94M shares
  
• American National Insurance Co. (ANAT): Provides insurance products and services. Market cap at $1.91B.Dividend yield at 4.33%, payout ratio at 42.97%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 3,250 shares, which represents about 0.03% of the 11.91M shares
  
• National Penn Bancshares Inc. (NPBC): Provides commercial banking products and services to residents and businesses primarily in eastern and central Pennsylvania. Market cap at $1.37B.Dividend yield at 3.11%, payout ratio at 16.17%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 1,122,160 shares, which represents about 1.15% of the 97.48M shares
  
• Oiltanking Partners (OILT): Provides integrated terminaling, storage, pipeline, and related services for third-party companies engaged in crude oil, refined petroleum products, and liquefied petroleum gas. Market cap at $1.22B.Dividend yield at 4.35%, payout ratio at 22.33%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 49,350 shares, which represents about 0.43% of the 11.44M shares
  
• Community Bank System Inc. (CBU): The holding company for Community Bank, N. Market cap at $1.11B. Dividend yield at 3.68%, payout ratio at 49.65%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 14,630 shares, which represents about 0.04% of the 37.21M shares
  
• 6. Tesoro Logistics LP Common Unit (TLLP): Operates, develops, and acquires assets involving oil and petroleum products. Market cap at $1.08B.Dividend yield at 4.09%, payout ratio at 16.0%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 3,600 shares, which represents about 0.02% of the 15.01M shares
• A. Schulman, Inc. (SHLM): Supplies plastic compounds and resins for packaging, consumer products, industrial, and automotive applications. Market cap at $708.18M. Dividend yield at 3.17%, payout ratio at 41.49%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 21,666 shares, which represents about 0.08% of the 28.39M shares
• NL Industries Inc. (NL): Operates in the component products industry in the United States, Canada, and Taiwan. Market cap at $656.91M.Dividend yield at 3.70%, payout ratio at 29.80%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 112,166 shares, which represents about 1.71% of the 6.55M shares
• First Interstate Bancsystem Inc. (FIBK): Provides commercial and consumer banking services. Market cap at $587.11M.Dividend yield at 3.53%, payout ratio at 46.77%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 24,726 shares, which represents about 0.13% of the 18.50M shares
• Community Trust Bancorp Inc. (CTBI): Operates as the holding company for Community Trust Bank, Inc. Market cap at $498.20M. Dividend yield at 3.87%, payout ratio at 48.82%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 43,738 shares, which represents about 0.34% of the 12.88M shares
  

The first thing that is noticeable is that there are four banking stocks which is too many. The next thing to remark is that these are all relatively small companies -- certainly in the small cap stocks which gives me no little concern -- especially in the banking sector. I think, in the end, I might want to cherry pick some of the stocks but if we put them in one portfolio, we will see how they operate together.

Despite this, it will be interesting to see what the historical simulations tell us -- especially when compared against our dividend producing ETF portfolio:

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