When a stock hits a fresh high, it can mean 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.

Let’s dig deeper
With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 130,000-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 two such stocks:

Company

Today’s Intraday Price

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

China Natural Gas, Inc.
(OTC BB: CANL)

$8.50

Gas Utilities

5 Stars

1175 of 1202

Seabridge Gold, Inc. (USA) (AMEX:SA)

$29.30

Metals and Mining

2 Stars

356 of 424

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of May 21, 2009

Top-Rated gas utilities companies:

  • AmeriGas Partners, L.P.   (NYSE:APU): Stock price is -3% lower than last year.
  • Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN): Stock price is -8% lower than last year.

Top-Rated metals and mining companies:

  • Rubicon Minerals Corp. (USA) (AMEX:RBY): Stock price is 57% higher than last year.
  • Kinross Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:KGC): Stock price is -11% lower than last year.

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