When a stock hits a fresh low, it can either signal a dirt cheap dream stock or a dreadful stock to avoid. Separating the wheat from the chaff is difficult, but finding well-run companies at bargain-basement prices is a great way to accumulate a fortune over the long run.

With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 130,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to see what the community is saying about stocks hitting 52-week lows today. The community's approval (signified by four- and five-star ratings) could indicate that further research is in order.

Here are three such stocks:

Company

Today’s Intraday Price

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQNM)

$3.71

Life Sciences Tools and Services

3 Stars

332 of 382

Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKC)

$16.16

Hotels, Restaurants and Leisure

2 Stars

330 of 437

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

$41.61

Pharmaceuticals

4 Stars

1263 of 1336

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of April 30, 2009.

Top-rated life sciences tools and services companies:

  • Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO): Stock price is 15% lower than last year.
  • Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH): Stock price is 20% lower than last year.

Top-rated hotels, restaurants and leisure companies:

  • Nathan's Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH): Stock price is 5% higher than last year.
  • Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM): Stock price is 16% lower than last year.

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