3 Stocks Hitting High Notes

When a stock hits a fresh high, that could signal that it is 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.

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With that in mind, we'll use the aggregated intelligence of the 115,000-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 High	Industry	CAPS Rating	Fools Saying Outperform
Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD)	$57.63	Drugs	*****	1,234 of 1,271
Graham (NYSE: GHM)	$107.44	Industrial	*****	1,004 of 1,034
The Laclede Group (NYSE: LG)	$46.24	Utilities	*****	76 of 83

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Aug. 13, 2008.

Other five-star industrial companies:

• Terex (NYSE: TEX) -- stock price is 35.7% cheaper than a year ago.
• Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) -- stock price is 28% cheaper than a year ago.

Other five-star utility companies:

• Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) -- stock price is 15.2% cheaper than a year ago.
• NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) -- stock price is 14.6% cheaper than a year ago.

Copyright © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate.