High-Priced Stocks Worth Every Penny

Penny stocks are one way to double your money, but that approach is fraught with risk. However, there are equally shiny opportunities trading at the other end of the price spectrum. I call 'em "three-digit stocks," yet if they're anything like Berkshire Hathaway, they can trade in the four-, five-, and six-digit range, too.

A penny stock might not be a good buy simply because it's cheap, and a three-digit stock shouldn't scare you away just because it carries a hefty price tag. Handsome is as handsome does. Let's check in with the Motley Fool CAPS community to see which of the high-priced stocks below earn the greatest confidence from our investor-intelligence database:

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's; Motley Fool CAPS.

But just because these stocks are purring is no reason to jump into them blindly. Catching a tiger by the tail -- or a knife falling from on high -- can end up leaving you scratched and bleeding. That's why we recommend you use this list as a launch pad for your own research and analysis.

Highfalutin' honeys
Perhaps best known as a builder of truck engines for the likes of Ford (NYSE: F) and Chrysler's Dodge Ram series of pickups, Cummins also manufactures heavy-duty diesel engines that should continue to drive profit home. According to the market researchers at FTR Associates, net Class 8 truck orders surged 38% in November from the month before, marking the fourth straight month of increasing orders. The industry's recovery began earlier this year, and while analysts are still cautious about the breadth of that turnaround, investors should feel comfortable that Cummins, which owns 43% of the big-rig engine market, is working hard enough to grow.

Shares of the engine maker's stock have more than doubled in 2010, rocketing ahead of the gains made by other heavy equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and Deere, whose stocks haven't risen by even half as much.

CAPS All-Star StarWitchDoctor isn't concerned that Cummins came in light on analyst expectations last quarter, since it also increased operating profit guidance for the full fiscal year:

OK, So cummins missed the streets numbers. They have a moat around the industry. They are large cap.

You can let us know in the comments section below or on the Cummins CAPS page whether that's a big enough hole to drive a truck through.

Half-baked or full of dough?
Throughout the recession, we heard plenty about the value that a meal at fast-food chains like McDonald's offered, and why Mickey D's stock was thus able to rise from $50 during the depths of the recession to around $80 today. At the other end of the food chain, many full-service restaurants had to turn to online reservation operator OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN) to help counteract the dearth of customer traffic.

Even with so much attention focused on both extremes, fast-casual chains like Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) were still able to gain a seat at the table. Panera's stock is up 58% year to date (and 43% alone since the recent August lows), while Chipotle has risen an incredible 170%.

CAPS member echeverria thinks Panera's big run-up means the chain is ready to pull back, but All-Star BoiseKen sees plenty of room for it to go higher still:

Really long runway of growth ahead. Great balance sheet and cashflow. Really quality organization with a decent p/e of under 30 for this type of story.

To keep on eye on whether Panera Bread will rise some more, you can add it to your watchlist,  and have all the Foolish news and analysis compiled for you in a single place for review.

Triple-digit titans
It's no great surprise that Wesco Financial is a three-digit stock: Charlie Munger runs the ship, it's 80% owned by Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Blue Chip Stamps, and Berkshire's made a $500 million bid to acquire the remaining 20% it doesn't already own. While Wesco has hired the white-shoe crowd at Skadden Arps to advise it on the offer, it really becomes a matter of when -- not whether -- Wesco becomes wholly owned by Berkshire.

Wesco's pedigree undoubtedly helps explain in large part why 93% of CAPS members rating the insurer thought it would outperform the market. Tell us on the Wesco Financial CAPS page if this cozy relationship will really be to its advantage.

Count to 10
These three-digit stocks might be on their way to even higher valuations. That's why it pays to start your own research in Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page.