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 140,000-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 three such stocks:

Company

Today’s Intraday Price

Industry

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Fools Saying Outperform

Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBIX)

$55.69

Software

5 Stars

491 of 506

Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE:DRQ)

$50.35

Energy Equipment and Services

5 Stars

348 of 361

TransDigm Group, Inc. (NYSE:TDG)

$49.99

Aerospace and Defense

4 Stars

253 of 263

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of September 30, 2009

Top-rated software companies:

  • ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CKSW): Stock price is 200% higher than last year.
  • Interactive Intelligence (NASDAQ:ININ): Stock price is 114% higher than last year.

Top-rated energy equipment and services companies:

  • Global Industries, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLBL): Stock price is 39% higher than last year.
  • Exterran Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:EXLP): Stock price is 33% higher than last year.

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