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

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF)

$38.55

Metals and Mining

4 Stars

1040 of 1076

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR)

$28.27

Hotels, Restaurants and Leisure

1 Stars

295 of 431

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

$192.59

Capital Markets

2 Stars

4795 of 5525

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of October 14, 2009

Top-rated metals and mining companies:

  • Northgate Minerals Corp (USA) (AMEX:NXG): Stock price is 203% higher than last year.
  • Horsehead Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:ZINC): Stock price is 188% higher than last year.

Top-rated hotels, restaurants and leisure companies:

  • Jamba, Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA): Stock price is 237% higher than last year.
  • Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG-B): Stock price is 111% higher than last year.

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