12 Low Volatility Stocks Being Bought Up By Hedge Funds

If risk weighs on your mind when you search for new stock ideas, here's a list you might like.

In the search for low-risk stocks, we ran a screen on stocks with low volatility, finding those that have traded within a 2% range each day over the last month.

We screened these stocks for those with the highest net institutional purchases over the current quarter, indicating institutional investors such as hedge fund managers and mutual fund managers are optimistic on these companies.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.?

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We also created a price-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. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here.

Do you think these stocks offer lower risk alternatives? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.

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

1. SK Telecom Co. Ltd. (SKM): Provides wireless telecommunications services using code division multiple access and wide-band CDMA technologies. Market cap of $9.09B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.51%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 89.5M, which is 25.14% of the company's 356.00M share float. Offers a good dividend, and appears to have good liquidity to back it up--dividend yield at 5.6%, current ratio at 1.43, and quick ratio at 1.41. The stock has lost 20.95% over the last year.

2. NTT DOCOMO, Inc. (DCM): Provides wireless telecommunications services, packet communications services, and satellite mobile communications services in Japan. Market cap of $79.44B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 0.81%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 1.9M, which is 24.93% of the company's 7.62M share float. The stock has gained 1.45% over the last year.

3. National Retail Properties, Inc. (NNN): A publicly owned equity real estate investment trust. The firm acquires, owns, manages, and develops retail properties in the United States. Market cap of $2.86B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.62%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 16.1M, which is 17.03% of the company's 94.54M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 10.12% (equivalent to 5.75 days of average volume). The stock has gained 14.87% over the last year.

4. Enstar Group Limited (ESGR): Acquires and manages insurance and reinsurance companies in run-off. Market cap of $1.43B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.66%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 867.5K, which is 10.75% of the company's 8.07M share float. The stock has gained 22.03% over the last year.

5. Ecolab Inc. (ECL): Develops and markets products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare, and industrial markets primarily in the United States. Market cap of $14.10B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.29%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 18.9M, which is 8.98% of the company's 210.56M share float. The stock has gained 22.13% over the last year.

6. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (ELS): A publicly owned real estate investment trust. Market cap of $2.81B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.60%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 3.1M, which is 8.11% of the company's 38.24M share float. The stock has gained 23.97% over the last year.

7. DemandTec, Inc. (DMAN): Provides collaborative optimization network of software services connecting retailers and consumer products companies. Market cap of $445.41M. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 0.18%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 2.4M, which is 7.76% of the company's 30.93M share float. The stock has gained 2.73% over the last year.

8. EastGroup Properties Inc. (EGP): Focuses on the development, acquisition, and operation of industrial properties in the United States. Market cap of $1.30B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.67%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 1.9M, which is 7.37% of the company's 25.77M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 6.73% (equivalent to 8.76 days of average volume). The stock has had a good month, gaining 10.27%.

9. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (WINN): Operates as a food retailing company primarily under the Winn-Dixie banner. Market cap of $530.81M. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 0.41%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 3.5M, which is 6.67% of the company's 52.48M share float. The stock has gained 46.36% over the last year.

10. HCP, Inc. (HCP): An independent hybrid real estate investment trust. Market cap of $17.17B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.60%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 25.6M, which is 6.32% of the company's 405.23M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 5.03% (equivalent to 6.54 days of average volume). The stock has gained 21.33% over the last year.

11. Government Properties Income Trust (GOV): Operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. Market cap of $1.11B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.73%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 2.9M, which is 6.17% of the company's 46.99M share float. The stock has lost 4.78% over the last year.

12. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (SIX): Operates regional theme, water, and zoological parks in North America. Market cap of $2.41B. Average intra-day volatility over the last month at 1.69%. Net institutional shares purchased over the current quarter at 1.5M, which is 6.12% of the company's 24.50M share float. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 7.03% (equivalent to 11.6 days of average volume). The stock has gained 50.72% over the last year.

*Institutional data sourced from Yahoo! Finance, 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.