When a stock hits a fresh high, it can either signal that it’s on its way to greatness, or that it has run its course. Even with the risk of the latter, searching for these outperformers can reveal companies that are doing something right, much to their investors' delight.

I'm a poet and didn’t know it
With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 110,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to find stocks hitting 52-week highs today. The community's approval (signified by four- and five-star ratings) could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are three such stocks:

 

Today’s High

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

Research

Peerless Manufacturing Co. (NASDAQ:PMFG)

$52.75

Industrial

*****

355 of 403

Research

Cia. Energetica de Minas Gerais (ADR) (NYSE:CIG)

$26.29

Utilities

*****

124 of 127

Research

Baxter International, Inc. (NYSE:BAX)

$67.00

Health services

****

296 of 318

Research

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of July 16, 2008.

Other Five-Star Industrial Companies
American Science & Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASEI): Stock price is 13.1% cheaper than a year ago.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE): Unchanged from a year ago.

Other Five-Star Utilities
Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE): Stock price is 4.8% cheaper than a year ago.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE): Stock price is 9.8% cheaper than a year ago.

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