5-Star Stocks Ready to Pop: Deere & Co.

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 110,000 investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

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

Deere & Co. facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Moline, Ill. (1837)
Market Cap	$28.86 billion
Industry	Farm & Construction Machinery
TTM Revenue	$26.07 billion
Management	CEO Robert Lane (since 2000) CFO Michael Mack (since 2004)
Return on Equity (avg. last three years)	22.1%
CAPS players bullish on DE also bullish on	Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
CAPS players bearish on DE also bearish on	General Motors (NYSE: GM) Ford Motor (NYSE: F) Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, 647 of the 665 All-Star players who have rated Deere & Co. -- some 97% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include leohaas and ww2004, both of whom are ranked in the top 1% of our community.

In May, leohaas noted that Deere is "the leader in machines needed in any agricultural business. And with demand for crops (needed for feeding people, cows, pigs, chickens, and to support demand from the growing ethanol/bio-diesel industries) only going up, so does demand for [Deere's] products."

An earlier pitch from ww2004 followed that "ag play" line of thinking, touching on the possible value opportunity that the shares were offering. Since ww2004 made the argument in March, Deere has even fallen 16%:

One word: agriculture. The next year, agriculture will be one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy. Farmers will have money and confidence in the continued profitability of farming. The increasing need for ever greater quantities of food for a growing world population and feed stock for biofuels will continue to drive the ag sector. Deere is well positioned to profit from the boom.

What do you think about Deere & Co., or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 110,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.