Stocks hitting fresh highs can either signal that a stock is 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 (those with 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

Fools Saying Outperform

Research

Darling International (NYSE:DAR)

$17.52

Consumer non-durables

*****

691 of 708

Research

Barr Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:BRL)

$58.40

Drugs

*****

826 of 860

Research

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO)

$30.30

Food and beverage

*****

203 of 211

Research

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of July 17, 2008.

Other Five-Star Consumer Non-Durable Companies

  • Greif (NYSE:GEF) -- stock price is 9.4% cheaper than a year ago.
  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) -- up 1.2% in past year.

Other Five Star Drugs Companies

  • Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:TEVA) -- stock price is 2.4% cheaper than last year.
  • Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) -- up 7.8% in past year.

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