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.

Digging deeper
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 (as 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

Fools Saying Outperform

Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS)

$61.00

Drugs

*****

859 of 890

Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEK)

$29.25

Diversified Services

****

247 of 260

Boots & Coots Intl. Well, Inc. (NYSE:WEL)

$2.77

Energy

*****

384 of 395

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of August 4, 2008

Other Five-Star Drug Companies
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) -- up 15.5% in the past year.
Sanofi-Aventis (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) -- stock price is 13.5% cheaper than a year ago.

Other Five-Star Energy Companies
Transocean, Inc. (NYSE:RIG) -- up 37.5% in the past year.
XTO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:XTO) -- up 11.7% in the past year.

Come and join us on CAPS to learn more about these and countless other interesting stock ideas.