Welcome to September: Is Your Portfolio Ready for More Pain?

Don't hold your breath waiting for a market rally in the coming days. According to CNBC, September is not a good month for stock performance. Historically, if a stock starts the month off in a downtrend, it only gets worse from there.

And this September got off to a particularly rocky start. This month has already priced in a 4.1% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, making this the worst September on record since 1900.

According to research from Bespoke Investment Group, "when the Dow industrials begin down 2 percent or more for the first three trading sessions, an average 6.31 percent decline has followed on the 13 previous occasions that has occurred." (Via CNBC)

Although the September drop could just owe to coincidence rather than a hard and fast rule (after all, there are some exceptions), we thought it might be worth taking a look at the worst performers over the last month.

To narrow down our screen we searched for the names experiencing significant levels of institutional buying, meaning hedge funds think there's reason to suspect a rebound.

Think these stocks have a few more bad weeks ahead of them? Use the list below as a starting-off point for your own analysis. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. DeVry (NYS: DV) : Provides educational services worldwide. The stock has lost -23.86% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 2.3M shares, which represents about 3.75% of the company's float of 61.39M shares.

2. Isoftstone Holdings Limited (NYS: ISS) : Provides various information technology (IT) services and solutions in the Greater China and internationally. The stock has lost -33.92% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 3.6M shares, which represents about 12.89% of the company's float of 27.92M shares.

3. James River Coal (NAS: JRCC) : Engages in mining, processing, and selling bituminous, steam, and industrial grade coal in eastern Kentucky and in southern Indiana. The stock has lost -21.97% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 3.2M shares, which represents about 10.78% of the company's float of 29.69M shares.

4. KEMET (NYS: KEM) : KEMET Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells capacitors worldwide. The stock has lost -20.57% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 10.4M shares, which represents about 25.84% of the company's float of 40.25M shares.

5. MedQuist Holdings (NAS: MEDH) : Provides technology enabled clinical documentation services and related revenue cycle solutions to clients in the health care industry in the United States of America and India. The stock has lost -33.22% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 3.5M shares, which represents about 14.16% of the company's float of 24.72M shares.

6. SodaStream International (NAS: SODA) : Engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of home beverage carbonation systems and related products. The stock has lost -39.78% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 9.2M shares, which represents about 62.93% of the company's float of 14.62M shares.

7. Travelzoo (NAS: TZOO) : Travelzoo, an Internet media company, publishes travel and entertainment offers from various travel and entertainment companies in North America and Europe. The stock has lost -27.02% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 3.2M shares, which represents about 57.76% of the company's float of 5.54M shares.

8. VanceInfo Technologies (NYS: VIT) : Engages in the provision of information technology (IT) services. The stock has lost -40.93% over the last month. Net institutional purchases in the current quarter at 5.7M shares, which represents about 40.37% of the company's float of 14.12M shares.

List compiled by Eben Esterhuizen, CFA.

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.

Kapitall's Becca Lipman and Eben Esterhuizen does not own any of the shares mentioned above. Institutional data sourced from Fidelity, all other data sourced from Finviz.

At the time thisarticle was published Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Travelzoo and SodaStream International. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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