Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, independent oil and gas producer Enerplus (NYSE: ERF) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Enerplus' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Enerplus facts

Headquarters (Founded) Calgary, Canada (1986)
Market Cap $5.1 billion
Industry Oil and gas exploration and production
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $1.1 billion
Management CEO Gordon Kerr
CFO Robert Waters
Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) 9.9%
Cash/Debt $4.4 million / $518.5 million
Dividend Yield 7.6%
Competitors Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ)

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 684 members who have rated Enerplus believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include UglyFool99 and All-Star Staka, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community. 

This past summer, UglyFool99 tapped the stock as a solid income opportunity: "Enerplus has excellent cash flow and pays a good dividend. Inflation will help the price of oil and this will be good for Enerplus."

Currently, Enerplus even sports a cheapish P/E of 9.5. That represents a clear discount to industry peers like Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) (49.6) and Canadian Natural Resources (31.3), but it trails Devon's (NYSE: DVN) (5.0) dirt-cheap ratio.

CAPS All-Star Staka weighs Enerplus' pros and cons:

Positive:
- High yield, low debt blue chip.
- Good margins.

Negative:
- Dividend has to go down in the near future and although this is an expected fact it might lead to some knee jerk reaction in the stock price
- If oil and gas prices go down the outlook (and again the dividend) might change but with ongoing dollar devaluation I have the impression that in the coming recession resource plays might keep up somewhat better than usual.

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