Distance from 52-Week High: formula and how to read it

How far the price sits below its highest price of the past year. The latest close divided by the highest price of the last 252 trading days, minus one. Zero means the stock is at its 52-week high and -20% means it is 20% below it, so higher (closer to zero) is closer to the high.

Stock Meadow groups it under Price trend, and shows it in tables as From 52w high.

Distance from 52-week high = latest close ÷ highest price of the last 252 trading days − 1

A stock whose highest price this year was $100 and which closed at $85 is 85 ÷ 100 − 1 = −15% from its high. The numbers are made up for illustration.

Zero means the stock closed at its 52-week high; −20% means it is 20% below. The figure is never above zero, so higher (closer to zero) means closer to the high, and that scores better.

When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better.

• Being near a high says nothing about value: a stock can be near its high and expensive, or far below it and still overpriced.
• The high is the highest intraday price, so a stock can close at 1% below its high on a day when it touched a new peak.
• Needs a full year (252 trading days) of prices, so it is blank for recent listings.

How Stock Meadow handles gaps. Usually blank when the stock has less than a year of price history.

Treat any single metric as one clue, and read the company's financial statements before drawing a conclusion. Stock Meadow's figures are research tools based on reported data, not investment advice.

In Weighted ranking, Z-score composite and Balanced (no weak link), you choose the metrics and weights yourself, so you can include it in a custom score.

No fixed-recipe model scores it.

Read about every scoring model in How scores work.

• Distance from 52-Week Low: how far the price sits above its lowest price of the past year.
• 12-1 Momentum: last year's return, ignoring the most recent month.
• Price vs. 200-Day Moving Average: how far the price sits above its long-term trend.

Is a stock near its 52-week high a good sign?

Research has found that stocks near their 52-week highs have, on average, kept outperforming for a time, but it is not a guarantee and it ignores valuation. Stock Meadow treats closer to the high as the better end of the scale.

Is a higher or lower From 52w high better?

When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better. That is a ranking convention, so read From 52w high alongside other measures and compare similar companies.

Why is From 52w high blank for some stocks?

It is usually blank when the stock has less than a year of price history. Stock Meadow leaves the figure blank rather than guessing it.