The 52-Week-High List: 33 Small Cap Names On Wednesday

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As of Wednesday, November 11, there are 33 Small Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs. Small Cap here means a market value between $2 billion and $10 billion, the upper figure excluded.

At about $9.5 billion in market value, Paylocity (PCTY) is the largest company on the list; its stock is up 13.9% over the past month and up 26.5% over the past year. Health Care contributed the most names, 13 of the 33. For context, the S&P 500 is down 2.3% over the past month, including dividends.

Photo by ArtsyBee on Pixabay

 
The Ten Largest At New Highs

The table below shows the 10 largest of the 33 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
 

Tickers Market
Cap
1D
Return
1W
Return
1M
Return
1Y
Return
PCTY $9.5 Bil 0.6% 5.3% 13.9% 26.5%
ZETA $9.4 Bil 7.6% 18.8% 11.7% 89.7%
MORN $9.3 Bil 0.9% 1.8% 21.7% 16.9%
TGTX $9.3 Bil 2.3% 6.7% 21.0% 117.0%
RHP $9.2 Bil 0.3% 1.9% 11.6% 53.2%
DSGX $8.2 Bil 1.0% 1.3% 13.1% 15.9%
AMRX $7.3 Bil 1.5% 8.8% 10.9% 89.1%
XMTR $7.0 Bil 2.6% 7.9% 13.5% 84.5%
TFX $6.5 Bil 0.7% 4.3% 25.6% 46.4%
ACIW $6.2 Bil 0.7% 4.5% 20.8% 30.3%

The Businesses Behind The Largest New Highs

Paylocity (PCTY) trades at 34.2 times trailing earnings, grew revenue 10.6% over the last twelve months and earned an operating margin of 21.7%.

Zeta Global (ZETA) grew revenue 41.0% over the last twelve months and earned an operating margin of 5.1%.

Across the list, one-month moves range from +0.1% for DoubleVerify (DV) to +69.9% for Xencor (XNCR).

The median stock on the list is up 59.0% over the past year.

A new high tells you what the market already believes. The harder question is which of these runs management itself is underwriting. Our Guidance Momentum screen tracks exactly that: stocks where the company raised its own forward numbers.

Chasing Highs Is A Reflex. Owning Strength Is A System

A 52-week-high list is seductive: everything on it has been going right. But buying a stock because it is at its high is buying a price, and prices revert; what persists is the quality underneath the run.

The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio is built to own that quality before and after it makes headlines: roughly 30 businesses selected for consistent cash generation, strong margins, and resilient balance sheets, sized and rebalanced with rules. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the Russell 2000. Admire the list; own the system.