Are you looking for high-yield dividend stocks? The almost-guaranteed payout of the stock can be extremely attractive, especially if it tends to be high relative to most other stocks. How do you know if it's a good company, though? Who would know best? Read on to learn more about these ideas.

Dividend yield
Dividends are a payment made by a company to its shareholders. The money is a portion of the company's earnings, which is represented by the payout ratio. Not all companies pay dividends. Management determines if and when dividends are paid, and how much each shareholder is paid. 

Cash dividends are paid as a percent of the share value. For example, if Company XYZ's shares are valued at $100 and it pays a 5% dividend, you receive $5 per share. If you own 200 shares of Company XYZ, you can expect to receive $1,000. 

Insider buying
Many analysts follow insider-buying trends because, after all, insiders know more about their companies than anyone else. Their investment activity is closely monitored and can tell us a lot about where they feel the business is heading.

Insider buying is represented as a percentage of the share float. Companies experiencing insider buying over the past six months provide an indicator that insiders think the stock is undervalued at current levels. Inversely, insider selling serves as a negative indicator. 

Business Section: Investing Ideas
Below is a list of stocks paying a high dividend yield that are also seeing insider purchases over the past six months. Do you think the insiders know something about the company that nobody else does?

List sorted by market cap. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR): Engages in the manufacture and marketing of home appliances worldwide. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion. Dividend yield at 3.1%, 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 company's 75.94-million-share float.

2. American National Insurance (Nasdaq: ANAT): Provides insurance products and services in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion. 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 company's 11.91-million-share float.

3. National Penn Bancshares: Operates as the bank holding company for National Penn Bank, which provides commercial banking products and services to residents and businesses primarily in eastern and central Pennsylvania. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion. 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 company's 97.48-million-share float.

4. Oiltanking Partners: Provides integrated terminaling, storage, pipeline, and related services for third-party companies engaged in the production, distribution, and marketing of crude oil, refined petroleum products, and liquefied petroleum gas. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion. 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 company's 11.44-million-share float.

5. Community Bank System (NYSE: CBU): Operates as the holding company for Community Bank, N.A., which provides various banking and financial services to retail, commercial, and municipal customers. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion. 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 company's 37.21-million-share float.

6. Tesoro Logistics (Nasdaq: TLLP): Operates, develops, and acquires assets involving oil and petroleum products. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion. Dividend yield at 4.09%, payout ratio at 16%. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 3,600 shares, which represents about 0.02% of the company's 15.01-million-share float.

7. A. Schulman (Nasdaq: SHLM): Supplies plastic compounds and resins for packaging, consumer products, industrial, and automotive applications. The company has a market cap of $708.18 million. 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 company's 28.39-million-share float.

8. NL Industries: Operates in the component products industry in the United States, Canada, and Taiwan. The company has a market cap of $656.91 million. 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 company's 6.55-million-share float.

9. First Interstate Bancsystem: Operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank, which provides commercial and consumer banking services. The company has a market cap of $587.11 million. 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 company's 18.50-million-share float.

10. Community Trust Bancorp: Operates as the holding company for Community Trust Bank, The company has a market cap of $498.20 million. 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 company's 12.88-million-share float.

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