16 Mid Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Monday
A new list of market leaders shows some stocks have run much further than their underlying business growth.
Strength in today’s Mid Cap high list is clustered, with two names each from Asset Management & Custody Banks, Aerospace & Defense, and Biotechnology. In total, 16 stocks with market values between $10 billion and $40 billion are at their strongest price of the last year. The largest company on the list is Northern Trust (NTRS), with a market value of about $35.5 billion.
But the runs to these highs vary widely, from a 3.7% one-month gain for NTRS to a 29.5% gain for IES (IESC). This raises a key question for any name on the list: has the business performance kept pace with the stock price? The names below show very different answers.
The Biggest Names On The List
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The table below shows the 10 largest of the 16 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NTRS | $35.52 Bil | 0.0% | 1.9% | 3.7% | 52.4% |
| FTI | $31.91 Bil | 1.5% | 7.6% | 10.7% | 125.0% |
| ATI | $31.68 Bil | 1.4% | 1.6% | 24.5% | 213.1% |
| EXPD | $25.14 Bil | 1.2% | 5.2% | 3.0% | 58.7% |
| ROKU | $23.35 Bil | 0.4% | 4.3% | 9.6% | 80.9% |
| RS | $22.1 Bil | 0.3% | 0.2% | 8.4% | 50.3% |
| MGA | $19.83 Bil | 1.5% | 2.7% | 8.0% | 66.5% |
| OVV | $17.88 Bil | 1.3% | 0.5% | 10.5% | 64.4% |
| DINO | $17.16 Bil | 1.4% | 12.2% | 7.9% | 122.6% |
| IESC | $15.82 Bil | 5.0% | 5.7% | 29.5% | 137.1% |
Which names show a gap between price and performance?
Consider the contrast between two industrial names. ATI (ATI) has gained 24.5% over the last month, pushing its valuation to 66.4 times trailing earnings. That multiple is paired with revenue growth of 4.6% over the last twelve months.
Meanwhile, TechnipFMC (FTI) also made the list after a 10.7% gain over the last month. It trades at 26.9 times trailing earnings, supported by revenue growth of 9.9% over the last twelve months and an operating margin of 15.0%.
So how should an investor use this list?
A 52-week-high list is a map of strength, and strong stocks often continue to perform. But a new high is a data point, not a conclusion about a company’s quality or future. It simply marks the current price.
The disciplined next step is to treat the list as a starting point for research. The real work is to look past the price and determine if the underlying business fundamentals, like revenue growth and margins, justify the new valuation.
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.
New Highs Fade. Discipline Compounds
Some of the names on this list will keep setting highs for years, and some are at the top of their run right now. Sorting one from the other, name by name, every day, is the work most investors never keep up with.
That sorting is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does systematically: about 30 quality businesses screened for the fundamentals that sustain a run, held with rules instead of excitement. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Use the high list for ideas; use the portfolio for the compounding.