5 Stocks That Just Won't Quit

In my weekly Fool column "Get Ready for the Fall," I run Nasdaq.com's 52-week highs list through the "wisdom of crowds" meter we call Motley Fool CAPS. The result: a list of stocks that have flown so high, investors are starting to get nervous about that whole "gravity" thing. But while many stocks will indeed plunge back to Earth, some seem immune to gravity, steadily riding a rising megatrend to ever-greater heights.

Today, we'll move beyond stocks that have hit 52-week highs, and identify companies now surpassing five solid years of outperformance. Which of these will thrash the market averages for another half-decade? Here are this week's leading contenders:

Companies are selected from the "New 5-Year Highs" list published on MSN Money on Monday. CAPS ratings from Motley Fool CAPS.

"Everybody loves a winner"
So people tell me, but it might be more accurate to say: "Everybody loves a winner... that they own." No matter how great the company, once its price starts marching skywards, potential new buyers can get scared -- and with each of these stocks now cresting a five-year high, the sticker shock factor does seem to be coming into play.

Consequently, only a couple of these five-year-high-hitting stocks enjoy above-average ratings on CAPS. CAPS members seem most enthusiastic about Williams Pipeline Partners, which is why this week, we'll be drilling down into ...

The bull case for Williams Pipeline Partners
CAPS member smallcapbigyield first became interested in the stock last summer, after noticing that: "The growth-rate of Williams' production falls behind just three other nat gas companies: [Anadarko (NYSE:APC)], Chesapeake [ (NYSE:CHK)], and XTO [ (NYSE:XTO)]." Of course, scby's referring to Williams Pipeline's parent company here -- but if the parent is sucking up the gas, it's a safe bet the subsidiary will be pushing it out through the pipes.

But growth isn't the only reason to like Williams Pipeline -- or even the main reason. For most CAPS members, the real reason to own this stock boils down to just one word... a word that willylsn contracts even further to just three letters: "div." (In Williams Pipeline's case, the dividend comes to about a 6.2% yield.)

That's quite a bit more than you would earn from owning the stock of Williams Pipeline's parent company. Better, too, than any of the three Williams competitors that smallcapbigyield named -- and even more than a lot of other pipeliners pay. El Paso (NYSE:EP), for example, yields a mere 0.4%. Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE) pays a not-unrespectable 5.2%, but that's still not as generous as Williams Pipeline. In terms of its P/E ratio, Williams Pipeline (14.2) sells for just below what the market offers Spectra (15.2), and infinitely above the money-losing El Paso.

That price looks attractive. Sure, but not just because of the dividend. One of Williams Pipeline's greatest strengths, to my Foolish eye, is the solidity of its balance sheet. In contrast to El Paso and Spectra, both of which carry billions in debt on their backs, Williams is just a remarkably unleveraged business -- $8 million cash, no debt whatsoever.

Foolish takeaway
If I were in the market for a dividend stock today (and as a matter of fact, I am), I think I'd be giving Williams Pipeline a good hard look. There's a reason this stock has gained so much, so quickly, and there's a reason CAPS members like it so much -- and both these reasons are very good indeed.

Of course, that's just my opinion. You are free to disagree -- and we even have a place for you to do so publicly. If you think the bull case for Williams Pipeline Partners is about a quart low and in need of a tuneup, click on over to Motley Fool CAPS now, and tell us why.